I'm now pursuing a number of subjects as a result of my interest in family history.

I recommend publications by Bryan Sykes, an Oxford geneticist, and by Spencer Wells, head of the National Geographic's "genographic" project. These books are clearly written and fairly easily understood by the lay person (a category I definitely fall into):

I should also mention one of Brian Fagan's books, "The Great Journey: the Peopling of Ancient America". I'm still reading this book, but will add my comments here once I'm done.

You may be interested in "The Third Chimpanzee", by Jared Diamond. I became aware of Jared Diamond through his television series "Guns, Germs and Steel".

Although it only briefly touches on the development of language, I've enjoyed reading (and re-reading) Bill Bryson's "The mother tongue: English & how it got that way". Bryson, who is well known for his interesting and humorous travel books, has written a fascinating account of the history of the English language. It's possible that this book is no longer in print, so you should look for it at your local library. It's also likely that it can be purchased second hand through abebooks.com, alibris.com or biblio.com.