Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Kindred cover art

Kindred

By: Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Narrated by: Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Ancestors cover art
The Dawn of Language cover art
Buried cover art
Tamed cover art
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being cover art
Animal Societies cover art
The History of the Ancient World cover art
First Peoples in a New World cover art
Neanderthal Man cover art
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language cover art
Nonzero cover art
The Denisovans cover art
The Verge cover art
Ancient Bones cover art
The Selfish Gene cover art
Guns, Germs and Steel cover art

Summary

Kindred is the definitive guide to the Neanderthals.

Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.

In Kindred, Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting-edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. They ranged across vast tracts of tundra and steppe, but also stalked in dappled forests and waded in the Mediterranean Sea. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval.

At a time when our species has never faced greater threats, we're obsessed with what makes us special. But, much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination, perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality.

Kindred does for Neanderthals what Sapiens did for us, revealing a deeper, more nuanced story where humanity itself is our ancient, shared inheritance. It is only by understanding them, that we can truly understand ourselves.

©2020 Rebecca Wragg Sykes (P)2020 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Kindred

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    226
  • 4 Stars
    78
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    205
  • 4 Stars
    58
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    214
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor Narrator

very interesting book spoilt by poor narrator , also the padding was tedious and pointless.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

5 stars with a caveat

I found the chapter introductions irritating as they interrupted the the flow of the text. No idea whose these were but they made for an uncomfortable listen. Way too much conjecture for my tastes. I prefer to keep fact and fiction separate. Otherwise an absolutely excellent book bringing together a lot of research in an easily digestible form.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very interesting

I enjoyed it and the narration was spot on., probably because the author and narrator were one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A superlative history of our cousins

Sykes gives a masterful and charming insight into our shared hominid past. Suitable for all levels of interest and understanding.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book!

Fascinating book! the author has gone much deeper in depth on the subject than other books I've read and really explains what is currently known about Neanderthals...more than I thought we knew! She really brings them to life and breaks down alot of misconceptions that we hold about them. 5 stars!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

This book is evocative and mesmerising. The narrator and writer, Rebecca Wragg Sykes, is captivating in her ability to gently mix storytelling with science, to create not just an informative presentation of Neanderthal life, death and culture, but to really bring the pictures of such to life. She does this brilliantly. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enlightening

In this detailed and factual litterature Dr. Rebecca Wragg Sykes sheds a new light upon our kindred: the neanderthals. With modern analysis and archeology we can now learn how much (or rather how little) we as homo sapiens sapiens differed from them. As an aspiring historian the discoveries shared in this book have given me a more profound insight into the lives of neanderthals which have always been an interesting subject for me. If you want to know essentially all there is to know (so far) about our late cousins, this is the book for you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly recommended

Very clear and entertaining explanation. Everything you ever wanted to know about Neanderthals and more. Very well read by the author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful writing

My son is very interested in archaeology and I listened to this book to test whether to buy him the hardback for Christmas. It is beautifully written. I was never bored (which I expected to be) and found the insights and new information fascinating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking and inspiring

Thoroughly interesting and thought provoking read for the interested lay person- really enjoyed it, thank you 😊

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!