Kindred

This book is an excellent mix of scientific rigor and engaging prose, walking through different aspects of the state of scientific knowledge around Neanderthals to provide a holistic picture of their biology, social practices, and relationships with Homo sapiens. While the popular view of Neanderthals has been changing for some time, Wragg Sykes demonstrates the thin line between many Neanderthal practices and those of modern humans, with the implications of the anatomical differences that do exist becoming that much more intriguing. You're not going to get a big reveal about their extinction - we simply don't know exactly what happened - but there is good exploration of competing theories. Highly recommend

Have been reading this as an audiobook, and I have learned so much, but my favourite thing is that all humans alive today have something like 3% Neanderthal DNA.

The author is also the narrator and they have brought Neanderthals to life in a way no-one has ever done before, in my experience. She talks about knapping quite a bit, coz it's an important technology, and I was amazed that I found it so engaging. I knew stone tools were very hard to make (I did 1st year archaeology at Uni and it's one of the first things they get you to try to do), but the complexity and different types of tools and the knowledge behind them, was breathtaking.

The author gives the Neanderthals a thinking, breathing, presence, and you get to learn about their world and the challenges they faced, using the latest discoveries and the new insights modern tech can bring to understanding the past.

I saw someone describe this book as a mix of poetry and science, and I think that's quite apt.

Oh, my other favourite thing is when the author refers to Britain as 'that land west of Doggerland'!