Table of Contents

Contents include: 1. In the Beginning 2. Genesis 3. A View of the Garden 4. A Hunger Game 5. Food for Thought 6. Body of Evidence 7. A Life Less Sedentary 8. Lost Tribes 9. Hunter-Gatherer vs. Football-Shopper 10. Music and Words 11. Green and Pleasant 12. Central Park 13. Old Town 14. Urban Regeneration 15. Revelations

About the Author

Gustav Milne studied archaeology at the University of Oxford and at Birkbeck College, University of London. He worked as a professional archaeologist with the Museum of London for 20 years before lecturing at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL). He now leads the national community based CITiZAN coastal archaeology project, hosted by the Museum of London Archaeology and featured in the Channel 4 series Britain at Low Tide.

Reviews

January 2018 Non-Fiction Book of the Month Gustav Milne gives us an overarching view of the known facts about Human evolution, showing how our outer ashellsa mask a very hunter-gatherer interior. We may show Urban cool to the world but our instincts, our brains, our guts all remain in the past, often ill-adapted to cope with modern life. This factor is so often ignored, and this book acts as a timely reminder that mental illness, addictions - even our behaviour can be caused by our ill-adaption. There are ways to cope a and knowing the whys and wherefores is a good place to start, Uncivilised Genes introduces the reader to the vast array of history, research and knowledge that deals with our culture and how best we can deal with urban life - even how it can deal better with us.Click here to read the review on Love Reading''s website.Love Reading

aThe fatal four lifestyle diseases a car-diovascular, cancer, diabetes and lung disease a now make up around 70% of all deaths. What's the solution? Leading archaeologist Gustav Milne reckons it lies in our past. Humans evolved over three million years, living off the land, hunting and gathering, living simply. And then came 24-hour supermarkets, on- demand television and takeaways. The sofa now contributes to more deaths than the motor car. And with only 10% of job roles now requiring any kind of physical effort, our sedentary lifestyles are causing this generation and the next to fall into a trap of physical illiteracy. In our quest for convenience, we've allowed our world to control us, and Milne argues that this has created an urban paradox that stints human evolution. It's time to reconsider how we work, rest and play to better fit our biology. In short, we need to get back to being cavemen. We need to uncivilise our genes. Lifestyle choices are shaped by complex cultural, economic and societal influences, so knowing where to begin is a tough call. In this fascinating book, we're taken through a beautifully researched and easy-to-read analysis of the physio-logical, metabolic and psychological factors that can have a impact on our personal health and wellbeing. Diet, exercise and social networks are all in there, but the author digs deeper, into the architecture and planning of the places in which we live and work, teasing out the need for greener cities and buildings designed with evolutionary-concordant principles. While much of what Milne writes is common sense, it's not common practice. Adopting the changes may take time, but through simple steps a eating and living like hunter- gatherers, getting tribal and roaming free a we can learn lessons from our prehistoric past and build a healthier urban future. Get it right and we create our own Garden of Eden.Professor Andrew Sharman is an international strategy, culture and leadership consultant, and chair of the Institute of Leadership & Management

In identifying many of the biological forces presented by urbanised living in the 21st century, Gustav Milne's Uncivilised Genes explores major challenges which conflict with modern society and undoubtedly ignore the largely unchanged biology of humans. Milne postulates a number of perspectives on modern-day developments which have impacted our health, nutrition, agriculture and societal organisation, and also examines differences between our ancestral and contemporary lifestyles. Milne doesn't stop there, however a he also highlights realistic protocols to which both individuals and health services can refer, to enable everyone to enjoy urban living without the consequences of diverging too far from our biological needs.Bianca Peachey, MSc student at Westminster University

Science keeps accumulating warning signs about the potentially deadly path we are blindly pursuing while increasingly secluding ourselves in ever more artificial and sanitised environments.In this very well-documented book, Gustav Milne traces back through hundreds of thousands of years to bring to light an unsettling genetic clue that suggests we might be indulging in terribly inappropriate behaviours; from our food habits to the way we move around a and just about everything else.Uncivilised Genes debunks deep, hard-core, unsound beliefs about ourselves and I strongly recommend that everyone with a pre-frontal cortex reads it. At best, it might give us crucial information about who we really and deeply are a information that might prevent our entire species from destroying itself. At worst, it is very entertaining reading before the light goes off. Philippe Couture, permaculture designer and award-winning documentary film-maker

The fatal four lifestyle diseases a cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes and lung disease a now make up around 70% of all deaths. What's the solution? Leading archaeologist Gustav Milne reckons it lies in our past. Humans evolved over three million years, living off the land, hunting and gathering, living simply. And then came 24-hour supermarkets, ondemand television and takeaways. The sofa now contributes to more deaths than the motor car. And with only 10% of job roles now requiring any kind of physical effort, our sedentary lifestyles are causing this generation and the next to fall into a trap of physical illiteracy. In our quest for convenience, we've allowed our world to control us, and Milne argues that this has created an urban paradox that stints human evolution. It's time to reconsider how we work, rest and play to better fit our biology. In short, we need to get back to being cavemen. We need to uncivilise our genes. Lifestyle choices are shaped by complex cultural, economic and societal influences, so knowing where to begin is a tough call. In this fascinating book, we're taken through a beautifully researched and easy-to-read analysis of the physiological, metabolic and psychological factors that can have a impact on our personal health and wellbeing. Diet, exercise and social networks are all in there, but the author digs deeper, into the architecture and planning of the places in which we live and work, teasing out the need for greener cities and buildings designed with evolutionary-concordant principles. While much of what Milne writes is common sense, it's not common practice. Adopting the changes may take time, but through simple steps a eating and living like huntergatherers, getting tribal and roaming free a we can learn lessons from our prehistoric past and build a healthier urban future. Get it right and we create our own Garden of Eden.Reviewed in EDGE magazine by Professor Andrew Sharman, international strategy, culture and leadership consultant, and chair of the Institute of Leadership & Management.