Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

What do the English “daughter,” the Sanskrit duhitár, the Armenian dustr, and the Lithuanian dukte have in common? They all carry the echo of a long-lost language—Proto-Indo-European—spoken thousands of years ago on the steppes between Europe and Asia. Though its last speaker vanished millennia ago, this ancient tongue survives in over 400 modern languages, from Gaelic to Hindi, and whispers through epic works like The Lord of the Rings, The Rig Veda, and the poetry of Rumi.

In Proto, acclaimed journalist Laura Spinney embarks on a sweeping journey across time and geography to trace the unlikely rise and enduring legacy of the world’s most influential language family. Following nomads, traders, monks, and emperors from the Caucasus to the Hindu Kush, she explores how a single prehistoric dialect gave birth to a linguistic empire. Alongside cutting-edge discoveries from linguists, archaeologists, and geneticists, Proto is both a riveting linguistic detective story and a powerful reflection on how language shapes civilization—and what it reveals about our shared human story.