The origins of the British

Unpublished mtDNA and Y-chromosome genetic data has rapidly piled up about the British people.

Synthesising the new genetic evidence with linguistics, archaeology and history, Stephen Oppenheimer breaks dramatic findings about the origins of the British people.

The first scoop is that the roots of English identity lie over 6000 years ago, not with the Anglo-Saxons.

Genetic evidence reveals that the majority of English people derive directly from before the first farmers.

Secondly, new findings finally answer the question of Celtic genetic identity, which is an issue real for millions of people.

Gene lines prove, once and for all, the continued existence of a discrete, British Atlantic coast-based population.

Finally, Oppenheimer puts new detail on 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.