'If you really want to know who we are, and how we got here, this is the book for you. A thrilling account of our extraordinary past - I couldn't put it down.'

- Gurcharan Das, Best-selling author of 'The Difficulty of Being Good' and 'Indian Unbound'. Former CEO of Procter and Gamble India and Managing Director of Procter and Gamble Worldwide

'An amazing book, written in an engaging style . . . It grabs your interest from the first sentence.'

- Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister

'At a time when the issue of the peopling of the planet by anatomically modern humans is becoming hotter and hotter, Tony Joseph has admirably cooled it down. He goes deep into recent developments in ancient DNA studies on human remains and delves into the issue of the "Aryan Migration". This is a vexing issue and not so easy to conclude. However, Joseph has marshalled multidisciplinary data from archaeology, linguistics, genetics and literature to support his stand on the issue. This is perhaps the most scientific way of presenting the Aryan debate. Lucidity is the hallmark of this book.'

- Ravi Korisettar, UGC Emeritus Fellow, Department of History and Archaeology, Karnatak University

'Intellectual omnivore Tony Joseph offers an enjoyable meander through a minefield of how our ancestors got here.'

- Pranay Lal, Best-selling author of 'Indica'

'Masterful and unbiased reconstruction of human presence in India using evidence from archaeology, ancient and modern history, linguistics, geography and genetics, with a tilt on genetic evidence.'

- Partha P. Majumder, Distinguished Professor and Founder, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics

'Joseph deftly and brilliantly summarizes new findings of genetics that definitively solve old problems in South Asian history, and show we are all migrants and, ultimately, kin. A timely, fascinating and courageous book.'

- Sheldon Pollock, The Arvind Raghunathan Professor of South Asian Studies, Columbia University, and General Editor, Murty Classical Library of India

'There has been a lot of controversy about the origins of various populations, and in India, much of this is driven by a quasi-religious ideology. It is therefore refreshing to see how recent advances in DNA sequencing from people of various ethnicities as well as remains of ancient people is shedding light on the origins, migration and intermixing of people throughout history. In this very readable account, Tony Joseph has distilled the results of recent research and his book should be of interest to anyone curious about the waves of migration and intermixing that resulted in the rich tapestry that makes up the people of today's India.'

- Venki Ramakrishnan, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

'DNA studies of Indians dating to the millennia bce confirm that they were a mixed population, and at a particular time included migrants from Central Asia. Given that these are initial studies their readings require circumspection when equating DNA identities with those from other sources. Tony Joseph's perceptive summary suggests how this new information might help clarify some of our understanding of the early past.'

- Romila Thapar, Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and author of 'Early India: From the origins to AD 1300'

'Tony Joseph's book provides a remarkably accessible overview of the early stages of ancient Indian history, starting with the immigration from Africa of current humans to the age of the Vedas. He provides evidence from several fields of scientific enquiry, notably archaeology, linguistics, ancient texts and the very recent study of ancient genes (aDNA). The latter is currently revolutionizing ancient history not just of India but also of Europe, Africa and South America. Accordingly, T. Joseph lays to rest the question about the origins of the so-called (Indo-)Aryans and their settlement in ancient India - which has basically been politically motivated, especially for the past 40 years. As common in scholarship, not all individual scholars may agree on all questions and conclusions (such as the nature of the Indus civilization and its relation with the origin of the Dravidian speakers). However, finally, a firm basis for writing the history of ancient India is laid. The various sciences, in the end, lead us from darkness to the light of insight.'

- Michael Witzel, Wales Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University