For centuries, societies have treated male domination as natural to the human species. But how would our understanding of gender inequality look if we didn't assume that men have always ruled over women?

In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true origins of what we call patriarchy, uncovering a ground-breaking history that gets to the heart of how this form of oppression became embedded in societies across the globe.

Travelling to the earliest known human settlements, analyzing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and studying cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she investigates one of the most fundamental questions of our age.