Product Description

The Celtic peoples of the British Isles hold a fundamental place in our national history, but some archaeologists are arguing that the ancient Celts of these islands never existed. This book examines ancient and modern ideas about the Celts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #219258 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent and very readable book
Simon James vividly and expertly sketches the clash between on the one hand the sense of Celticness perceived by many people who live in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany - and which is to an extent the basis of a reawakening nationalism - and on the other the growing perception of archaeologists and anthropologists that the Celts as a race never existed at all and that the idea of an ancient Celtic culture is a modern construct. He is good at finding striking and convincing evidence to support his case. The word Celt was apparently not used by anyone in the British Isles before 1700. It was used by the Greeks and Romans as a pejorative label for some of their barbarian neighbours on the European mainland. The idea that people living out on the islands of the Atlantic fringe might call themselves Celts came much later - and in effect involved the adoption of an imaginary ancestry and heritage. This is strong stuff, and some, especially readers who have grown up believing themselves to be Celts, may find it offensive, but James presents his arguments with winning suaveness and simplicity. It is a very easy book to read, and I found it very persuasive. The Atlantic Celts is not just another book about the past. It demonstrates how a perception of the past can shape the present and the future. It also shows that some deeply-cherished beliefs and prejudices are poorly founded, yet they are being allowed to steer the political future of the British Isles. This is a book that everyone living in these islands should read.

Persuasive and a good read
This book is well-written and I had no trouble getting through it at one sitting. I bought it in part because I'd seen the BBC series The Celts (or whatever it was called) in the 1980s, which had presented the Celts as a single people united by language and culture. I had some problems with this idea. For one thing, if Gaelic had been brought to Scotland by huge numbers of conquering continental Celts, why did they leave their trousers, and much else, behind? If Celtic languages had been spread through the isles by mass population replacement, how to explain the new DNA evidence for overwhelming continuity? This book outlines an alternative view which, although more complex, I found persuasive. My only quibble is that the chapter explaining how the Celtic invasion hypothesis arose in the first place needed to be longer. It also needed to be at the start of the book so the reader would know what was being examined. It's good to see these ideas finally being brought out of the academic closet.

reflects the modern viewpoint
The whole subject area is tied up in politics and nationalism, as well as a whole lot of romantic nonsence. This book re-evaluates the whole notion of the Celts coming to the British Isles, and it at least forces us to think about our beliefs on the subject. This book is a text book in some archaeology courses on the subject and reflects the viewpoint of many modern archaeologists.