Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story

This is a great little book on the ebb and flow of human existence in Britain detailing the climatic changes which have had a major affect on how and when homo sapiens, Neanderthals and previous incarnations of "our" species have sporadically settled on (what is now) our Island. Using a great range of photos, illustrations, maps and diagrams for evidence of the unfolding story of occupation.

The NHM never puts its name to a poor publication and this concise, colourful book is no exception. It uses the latest data on new and reviewed finds to add to the story of humans in Britain. The date of first habitation, even if by nomadic small groups has been pushed back to beyond 800,000 years and shows that Homo erectus and H. heidelbergensis can be added to Neanderthals and modern humans as once having trodden our land. It clearly explains the effects of the ice ages and the regular differences in sea levels isolating and reconnecting Britain from the continent.There are still answers to be sought, but generally this brings the interested reader up to speed on the latest finds. It is not meant to be a scientific tome of great complexity, rather it sets out where we have reached in our understanding today and keeps ones attention by means of fine photographs and illustrations. It deserves a place on ones bookshelf.

I needed a reference book on early human occupation of Britain and I chose this book chiefly because of its NHM accreditation. I was not disappointed. It is a model of clarity and takes the reader concisely through all the key British archaeological finds and sets them in the context of ancient climate cycles affecting northern Europe and, where applicable, parallel evolutionary development in Europe and beyond. I learned a lot from this book after the first read and I am still reviewing the content.It is interesting that the authors gave pretty equal weight to all the time periods covered - I was expecting the last 10,000 years to receive undue emphasis on account of our more detailed knowledge of the Meso- and Neolithic, but I think it was right to avoid the temptation to write a text book about 'recent prehistory'.

I attended a day's lectures on the same topic (courtesy of Wuffing Education). This book is a great adjunct to that. I never realised that we had Neanderthal people in the British Isles before.It is clearly written and nicely illustrated on an engaging topic.Highly recommneded.

Excellent for the layman and the more experienced person ,well designed ,easy to follow and very informative . Regards Dave T .