Originally published as "Rethinking the Neolithic" in 1991, Thomas revised his work, which was republished as "Understanding the Neolithic" in 1999. The book challenged the conventionally held view that human lifestyles transformed in Great Britain, from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic farmers – a process known as the "Neolithic Revolution"– through interpretive analysis of "social theory, anthropology and critical hermeneutics".