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Ancestors

A Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials

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Ancestors

By: Alice Roberts
Narrated by: Alice Roberts
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About this listen

 An extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today.

‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany Hughes

We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons, from burial sites and by using new technology to analyse ancient DNA.

Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went and how we came to be on this island. It explores forgotten journeys and memories of migrations long ago, written into genes and preserved in the ground for thousands of years.

This is a book about belonging: about walking in ancient places, in the footsteps of the ancestors. It explores our interconnected global ancestry, and the human experience that binds us all together. It’s about reaching back in time, to find ourselves, and our place in the world.

CRYPT, THE FINAL BOOK IN ALICE ROBERTS' BRILLIANT TRILOGY, IS OUT NOW.
©2021 Alice Roberts (P)2021 Simon & Schuster UK Archaeology Europe Great Britain England Discovery Thought-Provoking Island Genetics

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Critic reviews

'This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.' (Dr Janina Ramirez)
‘While the rest of us read words, Alice reads bones - and what stories they have to tell. In her hands they seem slick with life, bearing messages from ancient worlds. I was captivated.' (Neil Oliver)
'Another classic from Alice Roberts. She writes as a scholar with the intensity and flair of a novelist.' (Dan Snow)
‘Roberts is a prolific TV presenter, and Ancestors skilfully deploys the arts of screen storytelling: narrative pace, a sense of mysteries being unfolded. […] [It] is above all a tribute to the archaeological profession.’ (Dan Hitchens)
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Alice Roberts manages to balance respect for the intentions of early archaeologists while pointing out their failings and repeatedly holds back our natural inclinations towards romantic conjecture in this insightful study of some of the famous human inhumations, mostly in Britain. Informative and entertaining, I would definitely recommend and will be downloading another of her books next.

Brilliant and fascinating

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It is now easy to understand why Alice is a Professor. To take so much information from ancient time and render it understandable, interesting and enjoyable is a monumental feat.
It was great, and I thank you for it. Kind regards.

Wonderful view of the past

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I really enjoyed this. Having Alice Roberts as the narrator was a bonus.
Hearing about chariot finds in the East Riding was very interesting as was the various animal bones in the caves around Helmsley.
If you like Professor Roberts on TV you'll probably enjoy this.

Ancestors: Divining Life from Death

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Loved this book, so fascinating yet easy to follow but deeply relevant to today's society.

Compelling, accessible and so very relevant

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as always Dr Roberts is superb. her enthusiasm is infectious & her ability to bring history to life is fascinating

utterly brilliant as always.

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I’ll definitely listen to this again, I start lots of history books and find them hard to engage with. But I really like how This is written and is very easy to listen to. Finding out about different burial types is definitely my favourite subject in archeology. Really enjoyable

Love it

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Will definitely recommend to someone who are interested in human history through the explanation and discovery of human burial in the uk .

Well researched story telling

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This is not an academic treatise. The language and the evidence is not presented in a rigorous way. Neither is it an oversimplified presentation. In particular it avoids making sensational suggestions at times emphasising doubt and the range of interpretations. The advantage of this is that you feel part of the excitement of being on a dig and trying to understand the evidence. But the real strength is that you feel that the past is not a foreign country, but the story of how we have become who we are. It is more personal than the strutting of leaders.

She makes it feel that you are part of history

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This is a compelling book but why does the author pronounce “skeletal” as “skeh LEE tull”. It’s quite jarring and the word is used often. It’s more normally “skeh leh tull”. There’s a few other words she does weird things to. Other than that, a fascinating look at the latest research on prehistory in GB.

Great but…

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Prof. Alice Roberts is always engaging and no more so than in this book. A different take on British history and well worth a listen.

Great stuff

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