A National Bestseller
A National Geographic Best Book of 2017
An Amazon Best Book of 2017
2017 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner
Winner of the 2018 Thomas Bonner Book Prize
A New York Public Library Book of the Day
"A family portrait for all humanity . . . This enjoyable book has a great deal to say about our genetic code--or, more precisely, about how our knowledge of genetics is misused and misconstrued. . . . [Rutherford] proves an enthusiastic guide and a good storyteller.-- "The Wall Street Journal"
An effervescent work, brimming with tales and confounding ideas carried in the 'epic poem in our cells.'-- "Guardian"
Rutherford raises significant questions and explains complex topics well, engaging readers with humor and smooth prose.-- "Publishers Weekly, starred review"
A sweeping new view of the human evolution story, using the latest science of DNA as the central guide . . . . Recommended.-- "Scientific American"
Rutherford unpeels the science with elegance.-- "Nature"
A shining example of science writing at its best . . . will change the way you think about human evolution.-- "Newsday"
Adam Rutherford's book is well-written, stimulating, and entertaining. What's more important, he consistently gets it right.--Richard Dawkins
One of my big obsessions as a reporter is our expanding understanding of our genetic history, thanks to incredible advances like sequencing Neanderthal genomes. Rutherford, a British geneticist and journalist, presents a great survey of this fast-moving field.--Carl Zimmer
Genetics is opening up the past as never before--Adam Rutherford puts the genes in genealogy brilliantly.-- "Matt Ridley"
Adam Rutherford's A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived is the book we need.--PZ Myers
[Rutherford's] head-on, humane approach to such charged and misunderstood topics as intelligence and race make this an indispensable contribution to the popular science genre.-- "Apple's iBooks Best Book of September 2017"
Provides a good survey of the science of genomics and how it's changing the story of human evolution.-- "Forbes"
An enthusiastic history of mankind in which DNA plays a far greater role than the traditional 'bones and stones' approach, followed by a hopeful if cautionary account of what the recent revolution in genomics foretells . . . Often quirky but thoughtful--so-- "Kirkus"
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived is equal parts informative, engaging, and frequently surprising--a must-read for fans of big-picture popular science.--Jennifer Ouellette, author of Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self
Rutherford manages to reveal fresh (and controversial) assessments of human history and dispel long-held beliefs with clarity, enthusiasm and humor.-- "Shelf Awareness"