Some Bits: Nelson's books
The cover of Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

★★★★★Read Aug 22, 2025

I enjoyed this book! A surprisingly readable and interesting romp through the history of a bunch of people and languages. I love this kind of big picture history, or in this case a mix of linguistics, archaeology, and ancient DNA work.

I liked the deep treatment of historical linguistics and the reconstructions of Proto Indo-European and language evolution. I've always been skeptical of that scholarship. She makes a strong case for the rigor of it. I also love the connection to all the ancient DNA work being done right now. It's a very exciting time in archaeology!

Mostly I appreciate how coherent the book comes together, very enjoyable read.

Goodreads readers give it 4.12★, from 4,777 ratings. I gave it 4★, −0.1, where I'm usually −0.9: I rated it like most.
Readers call it History, Language, Linguistics, Science, Anthropology, Archaeology, Ancient History, World History.