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The sub title of this book is an ideal summation of the books subject and at the same time an audacious claim, "A Global Human History 20000-5000BC." That is a long period of time to condense into one volume, even one like this that runs to over 600 pages. The advantage of looking at this period though is that unlike mans more recent development this period is a simpler time. There are no borders or countries, no politics, little evidence of religion beyond tribal custom and superstition, no money and no large-scale war. What the book then is left with is the growth of hunter-gatherer communities across the world and when viewed in these more specific terms is a much more manageable task. The parameters of the book are not just some arbitrary boundary but in themselves delineate a key stage in mans history. 22000 years ago puts us at the end of the high point of the last Ice Age, from here on global warming meant that the receding glaciers would give back the lush planet to mankind and a point from which the rise to modern urban civilization can be followed. The end point of 7000 years ago is the beginning of the age of metal working, copper and bronze were being experimented with and agriculture was in its early stages and these and other developments meant that the life of the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer was being superseded by a fixed farm and crafting existence. So with an understanding of the start and end points of the journey Steven Mithen explores that great journey from mobile hunter to settled village farmer.

Rather than set down a basic introduction of common denominators the book gets down to business almost straight away. Divided up into sections along continental lines each chapter takes a location and examines the examples that it offers up to further our understanding of mans development with in the fifteen thousand years of the books scope. This makes the book accessible from more than one angle. If you are looking for an overall understanding of the global development of the period then the book can be read from cover to cover. If you are interested in a specific aspect, be it spiritual beliefs in Catalhoyuk, the colonisation of the Arctic lands or horticulture in New Guinea, then it is also very easy to cut to your area of interest.

What makes this book so easily usable is that Mithen has managed to cover a massive amount of ground in a jargon free and easily understandable text. But in moving away from the scholarly approach he has also avoided

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