If you have ever wished to find a cogent, but easy to understand discussion of genetics, evolution and human history, Nicholas Wade has done a great job in Before the Dawn. A great overview of human history (did we really intermarry with Neanderthals? Were Genghis Khan and his sons really that prolific in spreading their genes?)along with compelling genetic evidence, in dirt-simple terms, gives the reader a real foundation for independent thinking. Woven into the genetics is information on such subjects as polygamy, cannabilism, language evolution, archaeology, paleoanthropology and other subjects you wished you had studied in school.