By learning to "read" the DNA not only of modern Homo sapiens but also of our distant ancestors, we have gained the ability to travel through time. In this book, guided by genetic anthropologist Evelin Eyer, the reader will follow the same paths as our extinct relatives — Neanderthals, Denisovans, and the mysterious steppe people who laid the foundation for all Indo-European languages; trace the footsteps of Bukharan Jews, the armies of Genghis Khan, and thousands of "royal daughters" sent by Louis XIV to settle New France; board the ship that carried African slaves from their homeland... The author uses the results of the latest scientific research and shares her own field observations in a scientific domain that until recently seemed like fantasy. This science — genetics — answers the question: how did man become man? How, in just a few million years, a handful of Homo sapiens wandering the savanna turned into the dominant species on the planet.