The Celts: The Construction of a Myth [Hardcover]

Malcolm Chapman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1992 | ISBN-10: 0312079389 | ISBN-13: 978-0312079383

The Celts are commonly considered to be one of the great peoples of Europe, with continuous racial, cultural and linguistic genealogy from the Iron Age to the modern-day "Celtic fringe". This book shows, in contrast, that the Celts, as they have been known and understood over two thousand years, are simply the "other" of the dominant cultural and political traditions of Europe. It is this continuous "otherness" which lends them apparent continuity and substance. Modern social anthropology, Celtic studies, literary and historical evidence, and the author's own fieldwork in Brittany and Scotland, are brought together in demonstration of this.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 342 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (July 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312079389
• ISBN-13: 978-0312079383
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,192,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT ANTIDOTE TO CELTIC STUDIES PROPAGANDA!, January 16, 2006

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This review is from: The Celts: The Construction of a Myth (Hardcover)

The author uses refreshing scholarship in this detailed analysis that burns through the paper house of Celtomania. Starting with the Romantic movement, forgers like Breiz and Ossian glamorized peoples on the periphery of western Europe whose cultures were declining under English rule. Using archaeology and ethnography he carefully dissects modern Celticism as a political ideology. Which falsely links a wide variety of ancient tribal cultures to modern minorities seeking a common ancestry.

Thus, proving the term Celtic to be the least CREDIBLE of the genealogical references. Even Celtophiles like Frank Delaney in his series The Celts, stated "the division between the genuine ancient Celts and their modern, diluted namesakes can no longer be relevantly bridged." Lastly, no people before the 18th century ever called themselves Celtic. It should also be remembered that scholars like Nick Merriman & William Jones have long supported Mr. Chapmans work.