Customer Reviews

Celtic Warrior: 300 BC-AD 100

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like all Osprey books, this volume is intended to give the reader a basic introduction to the subject, rather than a deep academic understanding. This volume succeeds in that endeavor. The book describes the basic societal structure of the Celtic peoples in the time period addressed, with information on arms and equipment, rituals, approaches to warfare, etc. The color plates are well done.

This particular book does not in any way present a political argument regarding the relative cultural merits of the Celtic peoples versus the Romans, and it is hard to see whay a reviewer would attack it on those grounds. [...]

Yet another great one from Osprey. Great easy to read info and history on the Celtic Warrior from the 300 BC-AD 100 time period and the illustrations are flat out amazing. Highly recomended for anybody interested in the Celts as well as reenactors and SCA types!

Great source for weapons, armour, tactics, and more! The color plates inside alone are worth the reason to buy this...But it is also filled with great info and more!

This title is a worthy look at the elite of the Iron Age European armies of Gaul and Britain. Though the Celtic warriors were able to inflict some stinging defeats on the Romans and Greeks from the 5th Century BC to the Punic Wars, they proved themselves inable to unite against foreign invaders and were conquered a tribe at a time, first by Germans, then by Julius Caesar and his legions. The author shows how these warriors were defeated not because they lacked in numbers or even in quality weaponry (in these ways they were, if anything, superior to the legions) but because their 'heroic' fighting style held them back. A man who would face Roman legionaries completely naked can be admired for his courage, but nothing else!
This book begins with a trustingly simplistic introduction to the identity of the Celts, and then goes on to give a chronology of major events in their history between the beginning of the Halstatt period and the Construction of Emperor Hadrianus' Wall. The next section tells specifically of the warrior's role in the structure of society, his spirituality, and how he could gain or improve his standing in the tribe. Next, the author gives a description of the appearance, dress, and battle gear of the Celts. After this is 'The Face of Battle' shows how the Celt fought and the Celtic warrior's experience in battle. The final section, 'Aftermath' tells of the warrior's superstitions and the importance of sacrifice, spoils of war, suicide, headhunting, and splendid burial in the warrior's culture. After this comes a brief glossary, biblography, places to visit, a detailed plate commentary, and an index.
As usual, the most recommendable part of this book is the color plates. Though not by Angus McBride, they are beautiful, accurate, detailed, and depict some nasty battle scenes.
Overall, though it has some flaws this book is a good Osprey-style introduction to the cold world of the pre-Migrations era barbarian warrior.

I have done a great deal of reading on Germanic warriors, so I wanted to get a brief overview of Celtic warriors. For me, this book fit the bill and whet my appetite for further reading.

I learned some things that I wasn't expecting such as the making of ring or mail armor was likely invented by Celtic metalworkers several hundred years B.C. I found the abstract circular patterns of their artwork to be quite beautiful.

Like all Osprey works, they are intended to be overviews or summaries rather than in-depth treatments of a subject. Like other Osprey titles, it did a good job of this and confirmed to me that further reading on the subject of the iron-age Celtic people would be in my future! Color plates and photos are excellent as usual for Osprey.

The commentary on the plates are good, but some of the plates seemed almost cartoonish. Certainly not up to Angus McBride's standard.
Their huge numbers, arrogance, rigid individualistic and ritualistic military methods, & their underestimating the dogged Romans ensured their destruction.

The author is another excuse maker who can't accept that "Rome Triumphed against the odds." The Romans were the David to the Celtic Goliath.

No one in the British Isles called themselves Celtic before the 16th century.
I ask anyone to prove that any person or tribe did so before the 16th century?
The term was popularized by George Buchanan in the 16th century as was the creation
of the term "Celtic Languages."

These various tribal peoples had no permanent victories and rarely if ever were able to win a battle without vastly superior numbers.
Ex: they occupied Rome from July 390-Feb 389BC, while the Roman Republic & later empire conquered & occupied most of the Celtic lands for centuries.
Also, their oral traditions prove nothing. How can an oral tradition be taken as authentic history without written or archaeological proof to back them up?
"They refused to write their histories down not soley because the Druids discouraged them from doing so.
The real reason appears to be that they never developed their own alphabet.
Like most Europeans they eventually adopted the Roman alphabet.

Since they were not a singular people with an alphabet, written language, & cities as in a CIVILIZATION, one should not be surprised that they rejected literacy for so long" The written histories are largely backed by the archaeological record.

Basically, there is little in this book that is new or insightful, granted it is a regalia book rather than a deep historical analysis.
If one wishes to learn about the Celts read Juliette Wood, Miranda Green, & Barry Cunliffe's books.

2011-note-I have been told that Bactron at the website Totalwar.org have been no voting my reviews on Celtic topics since 2007. Which proved to Amazon that I was right about the no vote campaign that I & many of my Amazon friends have had over the years. These guys can always debate or write your own reviews.