Covers particularly Java Man (homo erectus) and "hobbits" (Homo floresiensis) with some treatment of Denisovans and the new finds from the Penghu Channel near Taiwan. "A book that will change how you think about humanity. Even as societies are beset with turmoil over insignificant human differences such a skin color, Homo sapiens are broadly homogeneous. We're all basically the same. What's more, we're the only human species alive. Yet it has not always been that way. Eons ago, there were many different species many different places. Not only the Peking Man and Cro-Magnons that school textbooks talk about but many more. It was, so to speak, "a world of diversity." Now it is just us. How did this happen? Who were these people? Where did they live? And how did such species diversity end up being just Homo sapiens? With an unequaled focus on events in Asia, this exciting work takes you along on the exploration and the research to answer these questions. Providing new information and new insights, it is a thoughtful look at humanity's evolutionary background." -- Publisher's description