Product Description

Lovers of gold, wine and war, the Celts have no voice because they have left no written records. Much of what we know of them comes from their enemies the Romans, who finally crushed them, and from the weapons and ornaments they buried with their dead. From these traces we can now resurrect a sophisticated people who dominated Europe for 500 years. These highly cultured "barbarians", with their exquisite jewellery and metalwork, were eventually driven to the edges of the known world - yet were destined to shine out once more in the art of Celtic Christianity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #198106 in Books
• Published on: 1993-10-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

A Pocket-Sized History of the Celts
The Celts: First Masters of Europe could easily fit into the back pocket of your jeans, but it is still filled with useful information and wonderful colour pictures, making it a useful guide to carry with you around museums or historical sites.

Christiane Ellure follows the history of the Celts from their origins at Hallstatt during the early Iron Age, to their conquest by the Romans. She also touches on several subjects such as art, religion and social orginization. What I found most stunning about this book were the hundreds of full colour photographs and illustrations. It is probably one of the best single volume books that showcase Celtic art and archaeology, which isn't bad considering its size and length (175 pages).
I have read a few books on the Celts, and many of the archaeological items shown in this work I had never seen before.

What I also found very useful was a section at the end of the book called 'Documents'. This section was filled with quotes from ancient historians about different aspects of Celtic life such as warfare, art, human sacrifice and private life. There are also quotes from the major works of historians on the Celts, such as Proinsias Mac Cana, T.G.E Powell and Barry Raferty. These quotes helped encapsulate some aspects of the Celtic World.

My only criticisms of the book are the lack of maps - only two basic maps of Europe are included . This can become a hinderance considering the frequent references to places in Europe that the author makes in the early chapters of the book. Another complaint is that a few sections seem outdated, due to adavances made in research since 1993.

This would make a good introduction to the Celts, although I suppose it lacks a lot of information because of its length, and as such it is a very basic introduction to the subject, and one that should be supplemented with other books. If there was one reason why you should buy this book, I would say that it is worth getting for the numerous, brilliant photographs.