This could be the ultimate book on our origins. For the first time, Chris Beard sheds light on a hitherto little-known yet highly controversial area of paleontology—the search for the ancestry of monkeys, apes and, ultimately, humans.—Henry Gee, author of In Search of Deep Time "Beard's book is the Lucy of anthropoid origins—an adventure story of scientific discovery in exotic places that introduces the reader to some interesting personalities of primate paleontology."—John G. Fleagle, author of Primate Adaptation and Evolution "The search for our origins does not stop with the first member of our own species, or even the first ape that stood upright. Our earliest primate ancestors also bequeathed us many of our most important features. Chris Beard offers a fascinating, personal survey of what we know about these delicate creatures, who ultimately gave rise to ourselves."—Carl Zimmer, author of Soul Made Flesh and Evolution "Chris Beard's exciting fossil discoveries and his bold new ideas show us that our very early origins were in Asia and not, as previously thought, in Africa."—Alan Walker, coauthor of The Wisdom of the Bones