Ireland Books

I needed facts for a group of artists who were painting for an exhibiton with a turn of the century Paris theme.

This book was well written, entertaining, and contained some little known details for these well known and well read artists. The Exhibition was planned to highlight "Le Chat Noir", the caberet where many artists gathered just before the turn of the century, and the book gives life to the Caberet scene in Paris, as well as the total Bohemian scene there in that time frame.

This book was so good in many other ways, that every one of the artists decided to read the whole book. I highly recommend it.

The cover of this book is so telling about the contents that I searched for the poster to hang it in my voice studio. The time and place of early Cabaret is very intriguing to me and this book gave the details of the social canvas behind the whimsy of the art form. This is one of the most wonderful ways to read history. It IS NOT DRY. It springs up your imagination. songbird@avavictoria.com

After reading the only review posted of this book, I thought maybe I hadn't actually read the said book. I'll blame it on how I tend to skim through these sorts of things hardly paying attention. Point is, the review lost me in about the first two sentences. John Lennon? I don't criticize the review or anything - I can, indeed, make the connections - but I read the book more for the information on Murger, Verlaine, Jarry, and the rest of them... So what I'm trying to say is, if you want a great bohemian read totally packed with interesting stuff, read the book. It's a good one.

I first came across this book several years ago when writing about Jacques Offenbach. At that time, I much enjoyed both the author's erudition and his dead-on social analysis. Seigel demonstrates how, in mid-nineteenth century Paris, the eager purchase by the bourgeois of "revolutionary" works of art (literature, paintings, drama, music, etc.) deadened the intended meaning of those works, and, by making their creators wealthy, changed the artists' own feelings about their society. Seigel sees this cooption as an intrinsic function of capitalism, and its own best defense against violent revolution. The parallels for our society seem clear to the reader (Seigel does not discuss them) - just as Henri Murger, author of "La Vie de Boheme", grew rich enough to buy a country estate (and then killed himself) so John Lennon took the money from "Revolution" and bought New York real estate. Mick Jagger is today one of the largest and wealthiest landowners in Britain - and one could extend this list indefinitely.

Over the years, I thought of Seigel's analysis on occasion - for instance, when reading plaintive complaints about the "misuse" of rock in TV commercials. But I didn't bother to pick up the book again until reading a new book with "bohemian" and "bourgeois" together - Brooks' "Bobos in Paradise" - which does not cite this book. Hmm. It's very true that Brooks may simply be a keen observer - after all, our intellectual culture is a direct descendant of that discussed by Seigel. So let's leave it at that - and suggest that anyone seriously interested in "Bobos" would do very well indeed to read this volume.

This is a great book, even if you're into escapist roleplaying, and pretending you're a knight, this will teach you what real chivalry was.
Bigger and more concise than the hagakure, it should be required reading for anyone who aspires to be a good person.

A very good dual-text copy of the writings of Geoffroi De Charny (the Knight that kept the oriflamme, a symbol of France, and the first famous possessor of the Shroud of Turin) into what Chivalry is, and what Knighthood should be, and the differences between that and what it really seemed to be.

The prose is well done, giving good insight into the mind of the Knight of that era. Examples of the problems of lust versus courtly love, the appropriateness of staying just a little hungry, and a comparison of the Orders of Grace (priesthood) with the Orders of Knighthood all work together to give the reader a sense of the noble and knightly duties in the pre Republic days of Europe. This is a good starting point (along with Ramon Lull's _The Book of the Order of Chivalry_) for the novice to learn how social Chivalry developed from the military form to the current socio-political. The parallels in current day knighthood can easily be seen once an understanding is gained of the past, and this book brings the past into focus in an amazing way.

Do be advised -- the French and English are interleaved, so you'll either be reading on the right (english) or left (french) once you get past the introduction!

Those who are members of mideval Recreation will find this book great insight to how the Knights of the day thought, felt, and acted about thier role and the betterment of thier Order. This book gives the reader a chance to view the concepts of chivalry through the eyes of one of the greatest Knights of France.

The original author, Geffroi de Charny, probably did not write this book -- like many busy leaders, he probably dictated it. Kennedy's translation lets you hear him speak. If you think you'd like to hear what a serious, practical, yet idealistic knight thought about chivalry, this is the book for you.

Mr. Acton relates almost a century of Neapolitan history (1730 to 1825). A large part of the text is made of original letters written by contemporaries, which makes it very vivid. The book covers life at the court of the Two-Sicilies, from the most trivial incidents of everyday life through to major political events, the discovery of Pompei and Herculanum, artistic life, war against the French... Characters include Minister Acton, Nelson, British Ambassador Hamilton, Metternich, King Joachim Murat, Queen Maria Carolina, Lazzarone King Ferdinand, Abbé Galiani, Napoleon Bonaparte and many more. Very good book, despite the Anti-French feelings of most of the protagonists :-) (not surprising, given that Neapolitan Minister Acton was an Englishman and hated the French).

Eighteenth-century Naples, like fifteenth-century Burgundy, was a small but culturally important state. Under Charles III and his son Ferdinand the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was a center of art and a tourist attraction that drew many Englishmen on the "Grand Tour". Harold Acton (a relation of Sir John Acton?) made good use of the rich archives of Naples and Sicily as well as the memoirs of Sir William Hamilton, Giacomo Casanova and other contemporaries to evoke the spirit of the age. I only hope the Prion will see fit to reissue Acton's "The Last Bourbons", which covers Neapolitan history from 1825 to the unification of Italy in 1861.

Every once in a blue moon, one comes across an unexpectedly great work of history that takes your breath away. In addition, THE BOURBONS OF NAPLES was written by a descendent of one of the major players, Sir John Acton, and of that Lord Acton who said "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This work was therefore also an exercise in family history for Harold Acton.

When you conjure up a picture of Naples in the 18th century, what comes to mind is the Grand Tour -- that endless stream of well-to-do English and other Europeans (including Goethe) who considered their upbringing incomplete until they had seen the classical art treasures of Italy, wondered at the magnificence of Vesuvius, and tasted of the fleshpots of Naples. There, they partied with complaisant British consul Sir William Hamilton and his delectable wife Emma (later associated with Horatio Nelson).

The time period covered by the book encompasses the reigns of Charles III and Ferdinand I (or III or IV, depending on whether you are referring to him as King of the Two Sicilies, Sicily, or Naples). Ferdinand was married to Maria Carolina, daughter of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa, sister of Marie Antoinette and grandmother of Napoleon's second wife Marie-Louise. While something of a grand scale manipulator, Maria Carolina pretty much ran the kingdom (into the ground) while Ferdinand spent his time hunting wild boar with cronies. Yet, thanks to the British fleet and Austrian army, she managed to hold on to her throne and write agonized letters to every crowned head in Europe until she proved too much for one British emissary, who packed her away to Vienna with her husband's permission.

The vicissitudes of the Bourbon monarchy in Italy make for fascinating reading. It had twice as many lives as a cat and even managed to survive the threats posed by the French Revolution and Napoleon -- but just barely.

This book is a lost gem and now is thankfully back in print. The author, Harold Acton appears as Anthony Blanche in Waugh's BRIDESHEAD REVISTED (where he is portayed somewhat unfairly as a fop). The Bourbons of Naples, unlike the Bourbons of Spain or France, did not have the same magnificent reputation as their more famous cousins. The best of the lot, Charles, later Charles III, the king of Spain, left an significant mark on Naples, building the city's famous opera house (he frequently dozed off during performances when he could be bothered to attend. The rest of members of the family are fine targets for Acton's wit. And what a canvas he has to paint his scenes of regal decay.

While Charles III was the ideal monarch, his successor (at least to this throne) was a ruler who spent most of his time hunting and fending off attempts by Napoleon to wrest his kingdom from him. This did not bother him so much as it did his wife Maria Caroline.

Like Louise of Prussia, or even Madame de Stael, Maria Caroline hated Napoleon (who in a strange twist of history became her grandson in law) and spent much of her life trying to come up with ineffective means of frustrating attempts at seizing Naples from the Bourbons. Even had Napoleon not tried to evict the Bourbons from Naples (as he had from Spain), Maria Caroline saw him as the heir to the same French Revolution which had cut off the head of her favorite sister Marie Antoinette.

Ambid the efforts of the queen, who was the won who wore the pants, to rule Naples and maintain the throne, and the kings persistent hunting excursions, a whole host of ministers and advisors come into the scope of the Bourbons. Nelson, Lord and Lady Hamilton are supporting characters in this work.

This is one of the best books in English on the Bourbons of Naples, but it is not without its defects. While Harold Acton is well-versed in the family, I would have liked more context, particularly on some of the short comings mentioned, but not fully explored. I was not sure why, after the chief minister (an ancestor of the author named Acton) was unable to bring the army up to respectable levels. Funds are expended and this is looked upon with alarm by the nation's adversaries, but in the end this had little effect. Even after reading this work, I am not sure why the Neapolitan army was so lousy.

Still and all, it is great to see this book in print again, I am hoping the publisher is able to bring out the sequel which addresses how the Bourbons of Naples were finally defeated by their enemies the house of Savoy and were left behind in the unification of Italy.

This was a book we read in my Children's Lit class while profiling books that featured strong female protagonists and/or stories that feature strong female characters. This book was chosen because it's unique portrayal of a woman saving a knight (not the other way around) in a classic fairy tale/fable. This book really stuck with me (for so many reasons) so I had to go out and buy it.

This Irish folktale features Margaret, a beautiful maiden who lives on a farm on the Irish coast, who's life was changed forever when a man (the captain of a ship and a King of the East) comes to her farm and asks for supplies for his voyage. Margaret who's yearning for a life of adventure agrees, on the condition that she is taken on the ship's journey, to which the King agrees. She works on the ship like the rest of the men, and she proves herself as strong and courageous. As the story progresses, Margaret repeatedly shows her strength and fearless nature, culminating in a fantastic battle with a mythical beast that Margaret must win in order to free herself from the magical curse a strange old woman and save her beloved King (who, if you couldn't figure out, she'd taken a fancy to). Margaret beautifully embodies a beautiful, feminine woman who also can stand up for herself and those she loves.

While this is a children's book, I'd say it's not for young children, not because of the content, but because there is a fair amount of reading in this book. I don't think, for example, my preschool class could sit through this without getting squirmy. However, for those children who love stories or have the ability to sit and listen for a longer story, they're going to love this book. The girls in the class may especially enjoy the unique twist that the King needs saving by a beautiful woman, not a beautiful woman needs to be saved by a King. The girls in our Kindergarten class loved reenacting this story, and it has quickly become a big favorite.

One thing I thing this book offers that I don't think gets enough praise is the spectacular illustrations. This book has, hands down, some of the best illustrations I've ever seen in a children's book. There are some pictures which quite literally glow. One picture in particular (the picture of Margaret on her knees, weeping) caught my breath. The pictures are vivid, hypnotic, and really capture the feeling of faraway lands, mythical beasts, and perfectly capture the mesmerizing beauty of Margaret and her incredible strength. It's not often I find books that visually portray beautiful women not as "girly-girls" but strong, courageous, and very real, without sacrificing her femininity. And I'm sorry, this gal has the most gorgeous hair (though being a bottle redhead, maybe I'm a teensy bit biased... But it's honestly nice to see a non-blonde female heroine/ lead).

The pictures in this book are so beautiful that the story could have been garbage and I'd still have bought it. The illustrations are just that amazing.

This book is wonderful for so many reasons. Beautiful pictures, strong female character, breaking of the typical fairytale/folk tale stereotype of women who need saving from their knight... This book is a can't miss.

Heck, I bought it and I don't even have kids and my husband, who doesn't read children's books, asked this to be a coffee table book so he could see the illustrations. :)

The title "Brave" does not do Margaret justice. She is fearless, powerful, intelligent, kind Margaret. The fable, set in the one place on Earth I would love to live, Ireland, is wonderful. Margaret meets her prince...but who will save who? The illustrations are as beautiful as Margaret. (I love the opening stained glass.) If you have daughters, or a classroom with girls, are a girl, or just know a girl, grab this book for a good read. Highly recommended.

Brave Margaret is a the classic fairy tale, but with a twist. In Brave Margaret, the hero is Margaret and she must save the Knight in shining armor and slay the dragon. A must have for all parents with girls AND boys. Story is reminiscient of classic greek tales and Aesop fables. The story itself is excellent the artwork is magnificant.

A great story, for boys and girls alike, the artwork is rich, and unique. This would make a great gift for a child from quite young to teenagers, or even for adult collectors of great illustration.

Tom Phelan makes those terrible times come to life in a very special way with this novel. The characters are engaging, the story first rate. He clearly has done his homework, and this is a very moving book. It is one of the saddest things I've ever read.

Canal Bridge was an amazing book about an Irish story one never hears about or sees in the movie -- Irish in World War I -- fighting for the British against the Germans -- but it was more than that -- it was their Vietnam -- an unpopular war, an angry populace. Yet this is also a fierce love story told through multiple points of view, between lovers, friends, neighbors. Also amazing -- the author is 90+ years old! Not that that should matter in a book, but it's a wonderful tidbit. READ THIS wonderfully written and compelling book!!

I absolutely loved this book, from the first page to the last. Mr.Phelan has honed his writing skills and sharpened his pen (well, computer) to produce this excellent novel of a small village in Ireland and the folks of same who lived through World War I. The writing is good. the storyline crisp, and the characters well defined.
Good job!

The Irish Independent calls Tom Phelan's THE CANAL BRIDGE "Another First World War masterpiece....An ambitious, accomplished and deeply moving contribution to Ireland's formidable corpus of fiction about the Great War."

Books Ireland, the magazine of the Irish publishing industry, describes THE CANAL BRIDGE as "a powerful and deeply affecting novel."

The Irish Emigrant says THE CANAL BRIDGE is "a masterful story...Must be ranked among the more successful of the novels dealing with the First World War."

About a quarter of a million Irish men served in the British army in World War One, and about 35,000 died. Tom Phelan's gripping new novel, THE CANAL BRIDGE, tells the story of two Irish stretcher-bearers (and the lovers and families they leave behind) as they struggle to survive the slaughterhouse that was Europe from 1914-1918.

Due to political divisiveness, Ireland has no tradition of honoring the memory of its WWI soldiers. In writing The Canal Bridge, Tom Phelan has raised awareness of these men and paid tribute to them.

This is an excellent commentary and translation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Prepared under the auspices of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, it contains all the canons of the 1983 Code in a fresh English translation (approved by eight Bishops' Conferences worldwide) and a canon-by-canon commentary with footnotes and cross-references. The translation is accurate and clear, and the commentary is good, easy to understand and practical.

This volume is not overly verbose, unlike some commentaries, yet it packs in a lot of material to help even the lay-reader understand and apply the canon in his/her life/situation. It is a highly practical and pastoral commentary, that seeks to help the reader understand the canons in the light of the tradition of the Catholic Church enunciated through the teachings of Vatican II. Strong theology and ecclesiology permeates through the entire commentary, and in my opinion, it does a far better job than other American commentaries I have read. A fresh approach of this commentary is its views of canon laws as guides on the path to salvation, rather than as the ecclesiastical counterpart to civil laws aimed at restricting freedom.

Pope John Paul II described the 1983 Code as "the final document of Vatican II." This commentary can be described as permeating with the authentic teachings and thoughts of Vatican II. You need not agree with all the commentaries of the canons, but it has done an overall excellent job with providing a scholarly and faithful interpretation of this venerable tradition of the Catholic Church called Canon Law.

This is a Commentary on the revised Code of Canon Law, which was promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church in 1983. This particular Commentary is a joint endeavor by the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Canadian Canon Law Society. The writers are some of the finest canonists in the English speaking world. Their approach is both pastoral and scholarly. That is, every commentator makes an educated and obvious effort to provide practical answers to contemporary problems of the Christian Faithful today. This is not the first Commentary on the revised Code, but that has its advantage. It includes the benefit of twelve years of public reaction to the Code, once it was enacted to succeed the previous Code of 1917. The word "Catholic" means universal. To provide an organized and comprehensive Commentary on such a Code is a work of staggering proportion. These professional and learned Societies have completed this work and made a tremendous contribution to Catholic Church intellect.

A detailed and extensive, but still quite readable, commentary on all 1,752 canons of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Already highly-regarded by practicing canon lawyers, this book is finding an increasing audience among laity who appreciate its accessible language and obvious commitment to accuracy. Written some ten years after the new Code went into effect, this book benefits by having allowed some post-Vatican II dust to settle and by being able to watch how some of the newer canons were going to be applied in actual Church life. I consider this work one of staples of canonical practice, and I use it on a nearly daily basis.

This commentary of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland reminds me of the Homeletic and Pastoral Review -- a magazine which strives to be simultaneously orthodox, pastoral and accessible to the average reader. In my opinion, this commentary is a success for these reasons.

As a canonist who does freelance writing on the side for a variety of popular Catholic publications, and who often finds himself teaching canon law to non-canonists, this is the commentary I most often cite when doing so. Again, because it is orthodox, pastoral and written at a level most Catholics can understand. Its larger print layout only facilitates the ease with which one reads it. For those seeking a commentary for reference purposes, this is the way to go. It is very much like the family Bible one keeps on one's bookshelf.

I finished this book in one day it was that gripping! I was drawn in from the very first page,I went through so many emotions from happiness to frustration! You feel apart of Jude and Oliver, the two main charecters and embark on their extrodinary relationship. I have to admit i was miffed at the end because it didn't turn out how i thought it would. However all I can say overall is that it was just great to get stuck into and Denyse Devlin deserves all praise becuase she made this book real to me and It always will be!!!!

Denyse Devlin's The Catalpa Tree is a novel about an orphaned teenage girl named Jude who is placed under the care of Oliver Sayle, her father's best friend after he meets with an untimely demise in a boating accident.

In spite of a slow start, Devlin has deftly managed to piece together a highly realistic and breathtaking portrait about the intertwining lives of two individuals who constantly test the limits of their circumstantial relationship with each other over the course of seven years.

The ending is somewhat bleak yet all the more appropriate, and when you step back and ruminate over the storyline in its entirety you realize that somehow, there is still a glimmer of hope amidst the tears and pain in the aftermath of love.

I, too, stumbled on this book and was drawn into the story from the very beginning. It is so beautifully and vividly written giving the reader a fantastic journey somewhat like "Under the Tuscan Sun" for Ireland and the French countryside. The characters are so well-developed that they emotionally capture as they come to life off the page. For me, it was also a lesson in tolerance and acceptance of the power of so many kinds of love. Read it and weep. Read it and cheer!

I stumbled upon this book. Oh my, what a find: like discovering a gem in a junk shop. This is one of the most emotionally gripping novels I have read, ranked up there with Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper." The two main characters - Oliver and Jude - reached off the page, grabbed me, and never let go. They're still haunting me. I wish I could see them ten, twenty and thirty years on.

"The Catalpa Tree" is one of those rare books that makes you tingle with delight from the first page and never disappoints, even when you're crying. I can't wait to re-read it and savour the descriptions, the emotional turmoil and the characters (even the supporting ones) all over again.

Well worth ordering! The Celtic knot work is intricate, with an occasional surprise detail tucked into a corner. Very authentic-looking, with it's maze-like elements and fantastical creatures!

This book became an immediate favorite!

this is a wonderful book which will keep you buy for a very long time.

The publisher allows you to use up to 4 images in a publication.

Way cool coloring book for older children & adults. Celtic design animals are hardly found in nature, but in the realm of the imagination they are wonders to behold. Celtic Animals Coloring Book is part of the useful Dover Pictorial Archive series, which means you can use these line drawings in your crafts or scan them & post them to your web pages.

Bob Rixon

Colored pencils and complex pics equal a great stress reduction tool. This a wonderful book for that purpose.

I would recommend this coloring to most adults, but probably not for kids. Some of the pages contain some drawings with very tiny lines. There are plenty of pages to keep you going, so you won't be disappointed. I found these images to be wonderfully authentic and fun to color. You'll want to hang your finished masterpiece on the wall or fridge, and you might even ponder framing it! I discovered this to be a theraputic activity after a long day of work. I had a lot of fun coloring and even shared with some friends!

This affordable, sometimes hard to find book is an excellent resorce for designers and artisans (including tattooists) designs from the Book of Kells are rendered in thick clear black line.

This is a really nice Celtic line art illustration book for coloring. All of the Dover coloring books are top of the line, and this one is no exception. Features a few examples from the legendary "Book Of Kells" itself, as well as general celtic surface ornament from various sources. Also, the designs are "copyright free" for any craft project you may wish to use them in. Exellent for any crafter's library.

This book is a scholarly account of the history and culture of the Celts, from the earliest archeological evidence in the iron-age Hallstatt culture circa 800 BCE, To the Norman invasion of Britain under William the Conqueror in 1066. The authors discuss the mysterious origins of the Celts using place-names as a guiding demographic to trace their principle routes of migration and their established settlements. The book then goes on further to discuss the formation, structure and the bodies of independent Celtic kingdoms, of Gaul, Britain, Wales, Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. Of particular interest is the changing and reforming political and social change which occurred in Britain following the withdrawal of Roman governance C. 4-500 CE. The fifth chapter on Irish secular institutions gives an interesting account of a Gaelic society, its inherited laws, the class based structure, customs and dress, festivals, and the organization of time. All of this is done in comparison with the Welsh system, but interestingly draws many parallels with Indo-European culture, particularly the Vedic and Hindu codes of law.

The 6th chapter outlines the structure and organization of the early modern Celtic kingdoms, providing information on the Pictish tribes and the Dal Riata, Irish incursions and influence in Scotland, the development of the Celtic Welsh and their relations with the Saxons, and overall the influence of the Viking and Nordic raids and settlements throughout the Western Gaelic communities. This period history spans from the 5-6th CE to the late 9th, leading up to the invasion of the Normans at Hastings in 1066. The remaining chapters examine Celtic culture from the perspective of literature, myths, language, religion and art.

I chose this book because I wanted a broad but academic and scholarly account of Celtic history, its formation, structure, people and culture. This volume fulfills all of those criteria, but it was certainly not a `casual' read, indeed it took me several weeks to digest and may properly be used as a reference and source of information rather than leisurely perusal. Both authors are renowned and respected academics, Myles Dillon having been the senior professor at the Dublin Institute, and professor of Celtic studies at Wisconsin, Chicago, and Edinburgh universities. Nora Chadwick is a veteran lecturer at Cambridge University and Newham and Girton Colleges. Celtic Realms is written with an absolutely serious attention to detail, woven together and cross-referenced in the true tradition of Celtic knot-work, and is perhaps the result of several years dedicated study and research. It belongs in the library of any reader with more than a passing interest in Celtic history, and itself provides a student with valuable resources.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the accounts of literature and arts, where the authors bring the voice and actions of the Celtic people to life. The study of any history can be susceptible to a dry and flaky recount, yet Dillon and Chadwick have cleverly avoided such a downslide by depicting the passion, ingenuity, creativity, artistic beauty and linguistic enchantments of individuals who lived so many years ago.

I've had a few people recommend this book to me over the years, and finally sat down to read it when a friend brought it in to work for me. I went out and bought my own copy the next day.

This is an excellent book and is surprisingly current, especially considering that it was first published nearly 40 years ago. Chadwick and Dillon were definitely ahead of their time. I may have been reluctant in the past to crack this book open due to the vast amount of chaff that I have tried to digest from several of their contemporaries.

This book covers most of the topics in Celtica - prehistory, history, culture, language, kingdoms - with a heavy focus on the Celtic literature. Some great insights, definitely a useable research work.

Doesn't say a whole lot about the Druids, but match this up with Ellis' "Celtic Empire", "The Celts" and "The Druids"; Gregory's "Complete Irish Mythology"; Guest's "The Mabinogion"; and Hutton's "Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles",
and you have an excellent all-round introduction to the Celts in general and to the Druids in particular.

Most of us are interested, to some extent, in history, and Celtic history captures the interest of a consistently increasing number of us. There's so much wonder, beautiful visual and literary art, and mystery to the ancient Celts.

But amid the work published on the Celts, there is much that is superficial or based on inaccurate traditions (too often English traditions misinterpreting true Celtic realities). I've found some of the latter, as well as some much better sources, and this ranks as the best among them. The scholarly research that went into this book is very strongly apparent; it is as deep as it needs to be. But it is surprisingly accessible as well. The writers know how to speak good, understandable language rather than Academese. Also present is a large amount of actual material. Many similar volumes only present the ideas and conclusions of the writers, while not bothering to provide the reader with much source material. Here, though, you'll find some excellent pictures, fine paraphrases of many Celtic stories, and even a good selection of actual Celtic words, poetry and inscription in the original language, as well as translation. Other writers give us precious few actual Old Welsh and Old Irish words, but these authors realize that most of us will never have easy access to the old texts.

All in all, as a lay reader, if you want intelligent research which gives you a fair amount of familiarity with important ancient mechanisms like art, language and poetry styles, with a fine record of the important points of history, you'll be hard-pressed to find it in a more accessible form. I'd number this among my ten most important books.

This Dillon and Chadwick masterwork was first printed in 1967 and still stands as a significant work. Some writers of books on the Celts that have been printed over the past twenty years would have benefited if they had consulted this book.
Its discussions of the origins of the Celts are fair-minded and the authors do not rush the reader to conclusions that cannot be with our present state of knowledge and were somewhat ahead of their time in pushing back the origins of the Celtic period further than what is usually presented in other works.
For the beginner it is not always an easy read but it is still approachable and the determined beginner would do well in reading this book as their first introduction to the history of the Celts.
The author's use of the Celtic bardic texts is commendable for they introduce the information they contain yet minimize them as far as being a reliable source of fact and history.
Explored are accounts of the Celts by the Classical world as well as a discussion of the first traces of the Celtic language. Social and religious aspects of the early Celts are also touched on.
Most of the book concentrates on the historical Celts of the British Isles. Their study of the religion, art and literature of the Celts of the British Isles is masterful.
A good companion to this book is Barry Cunliffe's "The Ancient Celts."