Customer Reviews

Atlas of the Celtic World

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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.

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.

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.

This is simply excellent. Concise, informative text and attractive, well-researched maps. I have to agree with Barry Cunliffe in his introduction to this book - it really is an 'incomparable source'.

I found this atlast quite useful and a good resource, but in places it is too discriptive of what I was looking for, and in other places not nearly complete enough. There is too much continental European material for my liking, and too little Irish and Scottish material. I wish there had been more. Still, it is a useful text.

Now if King Arthur had had the Atlas of the Celtic World, he would've been well remembered today. Oh sure, you can get a map or chart to just about anywhere today, but can you get one to the past? How about the early Middle Ages? How about the Celtic World, of which so little is known about? John Haywood has done just that, providing you with maps so clear and precise that you could navigate your way through the green hills of Wales today. Accompanied by an in-depth history lesson for each map, and fill details on the many little-known cultures of this type, Atlas of the Celtic World takes you on a journey that I am sure you've never taken before.

Originally published on April 1st 2002.

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I throughlly enjoyed reading this historical atlas of celtic culture.I would say that this is one of the finest around on the topic of Celtic cartography.Before the Roman Empire,there were the Celts.And i'm amazed by the newer interest in the neo-pagan movements.It appears it's not going away.Anyone who wants to read the true story of the Druids,might start here first.Anyone interested in European pre-history,should read this book as well.It's an exciting time now for archaeology.With the latest hi-tech gadgets helping neophyte researchers discover the relics of ancient times,archaeology is in the grasp of any layman.Will pagan culture reflourish over christianity?I'm not sure about that.It appears the latest epoch is 'Arabic',throughout Europe and beyond.For better or worse,the muslim influence is there for now.If you want a clear picture of when and where the celtic civilisations ruled,this is valuable reference atlas.

I wanted to know about the historic sites of Ireland - it gives a whole lot more and thens some - learn about the Celtic from the beginning in central Europe to present day - only negative thing I have about it - need to know where lakes moutians etc. are located - they are hard to find or not listed on the maps - still recommend it as a general review of celtic history but not an in depth look - maps are excellent for battles and location of cities/forts