A compelling portrait of a people thought lost to time…a remarkable account of humanity's quest to rediscover its ancient origins, using modern methods to illuminate the world as it was before the advent of written history. For Ms. Spinney, this distant and obscure past holds lessons for the future, as the preservation and purity of language is increasingly a contemporary concern.

Michael Patrick Brady, Wall Street Journal

Fluid... a global scientific odyssey.

Anjana Ahuja, The Guardian "Best Science and Nature Books of 2025"

The great leap in genetic analysis of late has meant that the story of how one language left the steppes of Ukraine and became the earth's dominant language family has become clearer and more exciting than ever before. Hooray for a book where the author's curiosity, diligence, and literary craft gets it all down in what will stand as the go-to source for a generation.

John McWhorter, author of THE LANGUAGE HOAX

An impressive piece of work . . . Rewarding.

Dennis Duncan, Washington Post

Laura Spinney tells engaging tales of archeologists traipsing through fields, linguists working toward professional vindication and many others active in the search for understanding of how these ancient languages traveled, fragmented, warred and traded to eventually became the dominant Indo-European languages today.

Rich Hunt, Scientific American

Proto is a rich and well-researched study of language development across thousands of miles and tens of thousands of years. But most importantly, it shows that we are more connected than we might have been led to believe.

Zuzanna Lachendro, The New Statesman