"By a diligent and reverent study of theology, and careful researches in archaeology, ancient and modern history, and every department of natural science, I was convinced that [the races of mankind] all descended from one original pair of parents." This book, written in 1872, presents a now antiquated theory on how the world was peopled. Rev. Edward Fontaine attempts to blend the Bible, what was then known of natural history, and his own observations to form an idea of the true nature of the world. Fontaineís major focuses are on classifying and examining various "races," and expounding on the question of whether all of these races developed from a single Adam and Eve or from separate sets of parents. He presents a series of lectures in which he raises and discusses objections to "the unity of the human race." In many ways now humorous in the twenty-first century, Fontaineís "observations" include sweeping generalizations about characteristics of various races, including the assumed inherent inferiority of certain peoples. He even suggests that because their ancestors were in bondage, certain races of people are naturally predisposed and well-suited to slavery. Interesting for its historical value and outdated ideas, How the World Was Peopled represents one manís attempt, from a nineteenth-century perspective, to assimilate the stories of the Christian Bible with the study of natural history.