This book owes many things to many people. Do not imagine for a moment that everything reported here as coming from my laboratory is exclusively my own work. Modern science relies on teamwork and I have been fortunate to have had some very talented people in my research group over the years. In different ways they have all helped in creating this story. In particular I want to thank Martin Richards, Vincent Macaulay, Kate Bendall, Kate Smalley, Jill Bailey, Isabelle Coulson, Eileen Hickey, Emilce Vega, Catherine Irven, Linda Ferguson, Andrew Lieboff, Jacob Low-Beer and Chris Tomkins. In Oxford I must also thank Robert Hedges from the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit for getting me started on all this, William James, Fellow of most Oxford colleges in his time, for his inspired suggestions along the way and, in London, Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum for allowing me to drill holes into the fossils in his care. I am very grateful to Clive Gamble for his tutorials on the ancient world. I must also pay particular thanks to Professor Sir David Weatherall for not only tolerating but actually encouraging the performance of such exotic and seemingly pointless research in his Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford.
You may also gain the impression that my research group is the only one in the world doing this sort of work. It certainly is not and none of what I describe would have been possible without the pioneering work of, among many others, Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Alberto Piazza, Walter Bodmer, the late Allan Wilson, Svante Paabo, Mark Stoneking, Rebecca Cann, Douglas Wallace, Antonio Torroni, Mark Jobling and Peter Underhill. As you will see, we do not all necessarily agree with one another all of the time; but without them, and many others like them, mine would have been a much harder, and far duller journey.
Four people in particular have helped to bring this story into print. The quiet professionalism of my editor, Sally Gaminara, and the infectious enthusiasm of my agent, Luigi Bonomi, have kept me going. Add to that the thoroughness of Gillian Bromley, my copy editor, and the patience of Julie Sheppard, who typed up my scribbled notes, and few authors could have had more assistance.
I am indebted to the thousands of volunteers who, by giving me their DNA samples, have allowed me to peer into the secrets of their genetic past. Without them there would be no story to tell. Some names have been changed to protect anonymity. I particularly want to thank the government and people of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands for being exceptionally helpful, and Malcolm Laxton-Blinkhorn for his outstanding hospitality during my stays on this delightful island. And lastly, thanks to Janis, Jay, Sue and my son Richard, though only an embryo at the time, for coming with me.