A review by lauren_endnotes
The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans by G. J. Sawyer, Esteban Sarmiento

3.0

An ambitious undertaking in the field of human paleo-anthropology: recreating / re-imagining the daily lives of different species of early hominids as they started in Africa and migrated to Asia and Europe. It's got forwards and intros and various nods of approval from the big wigs in this field of research, so it seems like it was a very well-lauded effort to bring all of this information into one book. There are several model recreations in the book - which are quite stunning (based on cranial reconstruction and computer imaging) and well-researched. For each of the 22 species discussed, there is a short narrative, imagining a scenario in their daily lives based on their environments, societal structures, etc. Some of these narratives are a bit corny and theatrical, but they do seem quite plausible - warring groups, fighting over food sources, mating rituals, etc.

It is a large "coffee table" book with full photos of the bones themselves as well as the recreated computer images (that looks quite real). I imagine my college Human Anthro prof would have loved this one and made it one of our textbooks... alas, it came out 6 years too late.