Customer Reviews

Celtic Myth: Heroes of the Dawn (Myth & Mankind)

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Heroes of the Dawn from Time Life's Myth & Mankind series is a lavishly illustrated and comprehensive overview of ancient celtic beliefs.

Historical material can sometimes suffer from the stigma of being "dry" when it comes to reading material. Many find it difficult to read and have a hard time trudging through the facts. Even if the subject matter is of interest to a reader, its presentation can perhaps be lacking. This particular work, which is only one installment of a series, is an exception to that rule. Myth and Mankind was a series that revolved around the combining of one specific culture's mythology and history in a very unique way. By presenting an overview of ancient civilizations in this manner, it gave people who are not readers of history a chance to explore civilizations that have long been extinct. While this is the only title in the series that I have personally read, I did find it very fascinating and really loved how the writing combined elements of history and mythology and reasoned how they influenced one another. These two elements were reinforced and influenced by one another in vital ways and the material in this book was very entertaining and educational without being cumbersome.

Much like the rest of the Myth and Mankind series this book does a great job of combining both the historical and mythical aspects of the Celtic and anglo cultures of early Europe. The book as well provides brilliant pictures of artifacts for the stories and gives great explanations as well as connections of the myths and the actual history of the region.
The folklore as well is well written in this book as well and is often told interestingly as well as short enough that it isn't too time consuming but not so short that it takes away from the overall point.

The book is simply a great book in both its mythic as well as comparative feats and is easily a great read to pick up again and again, I know I have. I would highly recommend bying this book and as well checking out the rest of the series, which spans the whole world and every major civilization, providing both amazing cultural information as well as pictures and great myths from every aspect of life.

After purchasing this book for a dollar, I was expecting its information to be poorly researched and oversimplified. True, it isn't a long book, but this suited my purposes well-- it's a great introduction to the Celtic people and their mythological cycles and known religious practices. It's very well-organized, and the facts are accurate and up-to-date with current historical findings. A great bargain.

I have a love-hate relationship with Time-Life coffee table books.

The illustrations are usually well-chosen and sumptuous, and the reproduction and production is as good as it gets for mass market publishing.

The texts, on the other hand, are often misleading, silly and incomplete.

"Heroes of the Dawn" is much better, very unTimeLifelike. You'll have to go elsewhere for information about the economic or political status of the Celts in Europe (and even in Asia Minor). This volume is about the stories, mostly Irish and Welsh, because those are the best preserved.

Because of space limitations, this is the Cliff's Notes version. The sense of wonder that is so powerful in the best translations is missing, but this volume serves as a good introduction and scene-setter for someone about to plunge into the misty depths of Celtic stories, whose illogicality (by our lights) can be confusing.

The illustrations are, as expected, outstanding. However, they would have been better for some indication of the size of the artifacts. Some of them look more impressive in these crystal-clear blowups than they ever have in real life. And directions to where they can be found would have been nice.

Whether it's Cuchulainn or Finn MacCool or King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, some of the greatest hero myths have come down to us from the Celtic world. In this book, the author presents the Celtic culture and many of the great stories of heroes and gods that it told. Along the way, the reader is treated to many large and colorful pictures and maps.

Though this book is listed among the "Young Adult" or "Juvenile" books, it is in fact a great introduction to Celtic Myths, one that is sure to please the reader of any age. It's amazing to me that the author could fit so much into such a small space, telling the stories, and keeping the reader interested throughout. I really liked it and think that you will as well!