Biography

 

Professor Oppenheimer is the author of the acclaimed book EDEN IN THE EAST (Phoenix 1999), which places the cradle of civilisation - the 'lost' Eden - in the continent of Southeast Asia, now half drowned by the flood  which followed the Ice Age, and OUT OF EDEN (2004) which was televised as a Discovery Special (Discovery/Channel 4).

 

THE ORIGINS OF THE BRITISH

A genetic detective story                            

Evolution

 

The first book to put the British in their places genetically, shattering the myth of Anglo-Saxon roots and redefining Celtic identity. Startling genetic data has recently come to light: synthesising the new genetic evidence with linguistics, archaeology and history, Oppenheimer publishes dramatic new findings about the origins of the British peoples. The roots of English identity lie over 6000 years ago, not with the Anglo-Saxons. The 'Anglo-Saxon invasion' contributed only 5-10% of male English genes.

 

New findings also finally answer the question of Celtic genetic identity. Gene lines prove once and for all the continued existence of a discrete, British Atlantic coast-based population that first spread north from the Basque country at the end of the last Ice Age - not Iron Age Europe. The division between England and the Atlantic fringe started to build up from that time. Finally, Oppenheimer adds new detail to the genetic legacy of the Viking invasions. He reveals that Orkney and Shetland, far from being victims, had been part of the Scandinavian world long before the Viking onslaught and, through the evidence of their genes, participated actively in raids on Ireland and the colonization of Iceland.  534pp.

 

OUT OF EDEN: The Peopling of the World

Evolution of man

 

A major new book and television programme which will change the way we understand our origins by providing conclusive evidence about when, where and how the human race evolved.

 

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