In his groundbreaking new book Daniel Everett seeks answers to questions that have perplexed thinkers from Plato to Chomsky when & how did language begin? What is it? & what is it for? Daniel Everett confounds the conventional wisdom that language originated with Homo sapiens 150000 years ago & that we have a 'language instinct' Drawing on evidence from a wide range of fields including linguistics archaeology biology anthropology & neuroscience he shows that our ancient ancestors Homo erectus had the biological & mental equipment for speech one & half million years ago & that their cultural & technological achievements (including building ocean-going boats) make it overwhelmingly likely they spoke some kind of language How Language Began sheds new light on language & culture & what it means to be human & as always Daniel Everett spices his account with incident & anecdote His book is convincing arresting & entertaining