Atlas of the Celtic World [Hardcover]

John Haywood (Author), Barry Cunliffe (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

In a series of 54 stunning full-colour maps covering 3,000 years and spanning the whole of Europe, this book comprehensively charts the dramatic history of the Celts from their origins in the Bronze Age to their present-day diaspora. Taking into account the latest research and academic controversies over the historical identity of the Celts, the atlas deals separately with the Continental Celts (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Anatolia), the Atlantic Celts (Britain and Ireland) and the Modern Celts and the current state of Celtic culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Haywood, a research fellow in history at the University of Lancaster and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain, has authored a number of historical reference resources, most recently the Encyclopedia of the Viking Age. His new book is a historical, cultural, and linguistic survey of the Celtic peoples from prehistoric times to the modern era, presented in a series of 54 full-color maps with accompanying text and 160 illustrations. This approach is welcome, as recent historical atlases (e.g., Atlas of World History, Oxford Univ., 2001) have treated the Celts as peripheral to the classical civilizations and the evolution of the modern nation-states. The Times Atlas of European History (1994) provided some focus on the development of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland but is out of print. The atlas is divided into three parts: "The Continental Celts" (including the Urnfield, Hallstatt, and La T?ne cultures and the Gauls of Brittainy), "The Atlantic Celts" (covering the Britons and the evolution of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales), and "The Modern Celts" (covering the 18th to 20th centuries and the Celtic diaspora and revival). The maps range from a world view of the Celtic diaspora to Europe in general to European regions appropriate to the topic. An extensive chronology lists significant events in Celtic history from ca. 1200 B.C.E. to the 2001 opening of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Interestingly, although the chronology includes the only direct reference to the 1296-1328 Scottish Wars of Independence from England, there is no mention of William Wallace. The select bibliography features recent English-language publications intended for the general reader. This handsome and informative resource is recommended for public libraries. Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

These maps tell the millennia-long story of a people whose most obvious living descendants are the speakers of Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, and Welsh. Language, Haywood explains, defines Celticness because, despite the many artifacts depicted beside the maps, the material record of the Celts is relatively scanty and the historical record not much more substantial. After discussing Celtic identity, which has burgeoned so that it has influenced the current devolution of Great Britain, Haywood presents the maps in two large sections and one small section. The big parts trace the "Continental Celts," who ranged through central and southern Europe, and the linguistically distinguishable "Atlantic Celts," who occupied Britain and Ireland. The continentals' section ends with Brittany's incorporation into France in 1532; the Atlantics', with the Highland clearances, 1763-1886. The short section illustrates the Celtic cultural renaissance in western Europe and the Celtic diaspora to the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. Well written, edited, and produced, this is just the book for a Celtophile to wile away the hours and the pints with. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500051097
• ISBN-13: 978-0500051092
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb atlas, September 24, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlas of the Celtic World (Hardcover)

A whole host of historians such as Rankin, Moscati, Chadwick, Martel, Eluere, Markale, Aedeen, Powell, and Litton have all edited or written books entitled simply "The Celts," not to mention the dozens and even hundreds of other books with other titles on the Celts, so if anything there is virtually a plethora of works out there available on the subject, especially in the way of traditional histories.

Which bring me to the present volume. For something a little different on the Celts, try Haywood's book. The book skillfully combines text with the many maps, graphics, and photos. Among the book's several strengths are the many pictures showing Celtic art and the maps which provide a graphical display of the important events of the time. There are 54 maps and 160 illustrations in the book. The photos show the Celts to be superb craftsman and metal-workers, and before reading this book, I didn't know they have been around since at least 1200 B.C. and lasted all the way down to late ancient times in the 3rd or 4th century A.D. Compared to the Greeks and Romans, who left major monuments, many texts, and various archeological finds, we have comparatively little in the way of remains for the Celts, but Haywood does a fine job of detailing and discussing what we do know of these somewhat mysterious and shadowy tribesman of Northern Europe.

Haywood is especially skilled at linking the text with the maps, and to give another plug for this fine author, he did a really great job with his Atlas of World History, which is one of the best historical atlases out there, especially considering it's up to 1/4 the cost of some of the more famous "big guns" like the Dorling-Kindersley and Hammond atlases of world history. Hammond also writes much better than most atlas writers, who prose only too often is a good substitute for late-night television as a soporific. If I recall correctly, Barry Cunliffe is the author of 40 books on history and archeology himself, and in the introduction he describes the book as "an incomparable source." I would have to agree with him, and altogether this is a fine book to read, browse, pore over the maps, or whatever, by a talented scholar and presenter of history.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It Slowly to Get All the Info, May 30, 2004

By 

B. T. Larkin (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlas of the Celtic World (Hardcover)

I love this book. I fully concur with the other positive reviews here that praise the beauty, layout, and writing quality. Futher, what I love is that the book informs and intrigues on several levels -- you can read it very slowly and carefully to get a lot of insight from all the maps and legends. Or, you can browse through it very fast, like flipping through a magazine. Whatever your level of intensity, you'll learn something and enjoy the book. As such, it makes an excellent gift for those with a lot of knowledge of Celts or even an elementary school child whose curiosity you'd like to stimulate.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful reference work, March 20, 2004

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlas of the Celtic World (Hardcover)

This comprehensive atlas and history book looks at archaeology and the military, cultural, literary and political history of the Celts. It opens with a Chronology list dating from 1200BC.

Part One (Continental Celts) deals with language, early bronze age Europe, Celtic migrations, Celts in Anatolia Italy and Iberia, trade routes, religion, the Roman conquest of Gaul and the kingdom of Brittany, among other topics. This section includes a diagram of the development of the Celtic language group.

Part Two discusses inter alia: prehistoric Celtic Britain and Ireland, the Roman conquest of Britain, the Picts and the Scots, King Arthur and the golden ages of Wales and Ireland.

Part Three investigates the Celtic Diaspora to places like Canada, the USA, Australia and South Africa, the Celtic languages today, the Celtic countries and the Celtic League which includes Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, Cornwall and Brittany.

Of the surviving languages, Welsh has the greatest number of speakers, followed by Breton. Scottish Gaelic still survives in the Outer Hebrides and Irish is still spoken by small numbers in western parts of Eire. Manx and Cornish are "hobby" languages with less than 100 speakers each.

The book concludes with a list of further reading and an index. The text is enhanced with more than 200 illustrations of which 180 are in full colour and 54 beautiful maps. It is an extensive reference work filled with fascinating facts and illuminating history.