This book presents, for the first time in English, a complete critical survey of the theory and methodology of Indo-European linguistics, from its origins two centuries ago to the present day.

This book introduces Proto-Indo-European and explores what the language reveals about the people who spoke it. The Proto-Indo-Europeans lived somewhere in Europe or Asia between 5,500 and 8,000 years ago, and no text of their language survives. J. P. Mallory and Douglas Adams show how over the last two centuries scholars have reconstructed it from its descendant languages, the surviving examples of which comprise the world's largest language family. After a concise account of Proto-Indo-European grammar and a consideration of its discovery, they use the reconstructed language and related evidence from archaeology and natural history to examine the lives, thoughts, passions, culture, society, economy, history, and environment of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Our distant ancestors had used the wheel, were settled arable farmers, kept sheep and cattle, brewed beer, got married, made weapons, and had 27 verbs for the expression of strife. The subjects to which the authors devote chapters include fauna, flora, family and kinship, clothing and textiles, food and drink, space and time, emotions, mythology, religion, and the continuing quest to discover the Proto-Indo-European homeland.Proto-Indo-European-English and English-Proto-Indo-European vocabularies and full indexes conclude the book. Written in a clear, readable style and illustrated with maps, figures, and tables, this book is on a subject of great and enduring fascination. It will appeal to students of languages, classics, and the ancient world, as well as to general readers interested in the history of language and of early human societies.

“欧亚历史文化文库”主要收入的是1978年以来我国内陆欧亚诸方向研究的代表性成果，同时选择了部分国际欧亚学的经典名著，涉及区内众多民族、多种文化类别的语言、文字、风俗、宗教、生产和生活方式等内容及其相互影响，在研究方法和资料构建上独显欧亚视野的优势和特色。
该套丛书的出版宗旨是：使读者能够在欧亚这一视野下系统、全面地品读历史，审视文化传统的发生、发展和变迁，认识我们的历史文化在世界文明进程中所起的作用，推动我国的民族史、宗教史、边疆史、断代史乃至中华文化传统等现代中国历史文化研究的进步。
系统出版这些成果，对于指导我们国家的发展实践和构建稳定的发展环境，有着十分重要的现实意义；同时，其研究方法与研究成果，对于我国的民族史、宗教史、边疆史、各断代史乃至中华文化传统等现代中国历史文化研究的启发和推动作用，也将意义深远。
本书是“欧亚历史文化文库”中的一种，在欧亚大陆这个广大地区使用的语言，主要属汉藏语系、阿尔泰语系（有争议）、乌拉尔语系、亚非语系（旧称闪含语系）、印欧语系、南亚语系、达罗毗荼语系等。本书对这些不同语言分别进行了简要说明；梳理了其中有文献传统的语言，并介绍了它们使用的文字和历史上形成的重要文献著作；阐释了国内外对这些语言进行研究的历史和现状，以及已经得出的重要结论和尚待进一步探讨的问题。