The history of humanity began 5000 years ago with the first traces of writing. Archaeological sites testify to the preceding 45,000 years, the so-called prehistory. But the human species took its first steps millions of years before: how can we know about such a remote past? Today an instrument for that exists, and it is within us: our genetic patrimony. Thanks to the identification of the complete DNA sequence, the genome, it is possible to know how the first man on earth was. In an enthralling, exciting narrative, Nicholas Wade reconstructs for us, step after step, the evolution of hominid to man: the constitution of the first communities, the migrations, the birth of verbal language, the development of the first social forms like religion, commerce, and war. And he demonstrates how genetics also can help us understand our more recent history.