The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Future, Kenneally - B +

                                               This book is a romp through genetics, genealogy, DNA testing, historic memory and a sort of world-wide sociological analysis. To some extent it rambles all over the place. There were some interesting points along the way. The author is Australian ,and as we know, millions of British citizens were 'transported', many for serious crimes and equally many for nothing more sinister than stealing bread for a starving child, a la Jean Valjean in French literature.  The author's great-etc. grandfather stole a handkerchief. Those convicts stayed on after their time was done, found partners and gave birth to the modern country of Australia. However, until recently, most Australians were in denial of and not aware of their convict heritage. On Tasmania, formerly Van Diemen's Land where, according to the author, over 90% of the people are convict descendants, anyone who learned of a connection to a convict was shocked. In a bout of serious national denial and forgetfulness, the Aussies simply ignored the past of which their great-grand parents were so ashamed that they never taught their children how or why they came to the continent. Today, finding a convict in one's family tree is a point of pride for the young.  Perhaps the most shocking chapter in the book has to to do with German anti-semitism linked by geography from the 14th century to the 20th.  When the Black Death came to Europe, someone had to be blamed, and in many German cities, Jews were, with disastrous consequences for those Jewish communities.  Hatred can be passed down, but I am shocked that the cities with pogroms in the 14th century were the ones with higher incidences of anti-Jewish violence in the 1930's. Researchers have found that extreme prejudices were rarer in the more cosmopolitan cities where there had been substantial population inflows. It was in those place where there had been minimal outside influences that anti-semitism was more easily passed down.
                                              The DNA  portion of the book has some interesting tid-bits also. A thorough genetic study of the UK showed that from the time the Romans left in 400 AD until the mid-nineteenth century, very few moved or married outside of where they were born. There were interlopers, Danes and Vikings who had an impact, but they were quickly absorbed. There are seventeen distinct clusters from south of London to Cornwall to the Orkneys where everyone in the cluster is pretty much the same.  In the last decade alone, DNA testing has replaced the anthropological fossil-based guessing game about where and how mankind has evolved. The Out of Africa theory has been confirmed and the age-old question about whether or not we share DNA with the Neanderthals has been answered in the affirmative.  How and when the far reaches of the South Pacific and the Western Hemisphere were populated has been resolved.  It has even helped identify the remains of a former King of England. This certainly is an interesting read. Be prepared for a far-reaching tour.