Customer Reviews

The Celts: Uncovering the Mythic and Historic Origins of Western Culture

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I have a strange liking for books by Jean Markale. No matter what strange tangents my spiritual/historical leads me on, Arthurian, Celtic, Cathars, Jean Markale seems to have a book on it. On some weird level, he and I must think and wonder in the same ways and so I find his books fascinating.

One thing to note about Markale that you should remember before reading him and that is he is described as a poet, philosopher, historian and storyteller and this must be kept in mind when reading him. His scholarship seems good, but his creative mind takes him places that no strict historian would travel. Nonetheless, he is a good read and a writer that makes you think with his very intelligent style of writing.

That being said, I enjoyed this book for its somewhat Gaulish focus on Celtic deities, worship and history (and the subject seems to be prioritized in that order). This book is one of many of Markale's great tomes.

It seems that the quest of this book by Markale is to explain the Celts through the power of their myths. Noble goal, indeed, and Markale succeeds in describing the history and the emmense influence the Celts had on Western Europe...even by today's standards.... a great deal of which he does by recalling mythical incidents. His history, as always, is nearly flawless, unbias, and interesting.

But I got somewhat bored with Markale's constant comparisons of Celtic myth figures to Biblical and Greco-Roman figures. Back in the days of Charles Squire this may have been necissary, but I found it tedious in this work. Not just tedious, but irrelevant and not slightly irritating.

If you can get past the many subtle personal commentary and criticism, the work has great merit. Markale is a notable historian and I especially recommend his work "The Druids".

Overly pedantic yet having sparse foot notes the author makes many statements without backing them up with their sources and the material noted in the bibliography is woefully outdated.
It is not only overly pompous but reads as though it written by someone with their own personal ax to grind. And when the author trys to present factual material many of what is presented as fact runs contrary to other Celtic scholars whose credentials are far more extensive. (such as the reasons for the Saxon invasions, and when the author describes the Saxon invasion of Britain there is never again a mention of the Romans).
Ancient Celtic art, my humble opinion some of the most beautiful art mankind has ever created, is both barely mentioned and when it is disparaged. The Hallstatt period is barely mentioned and when it is the dates of the period are wrong! (this is both important and basic information).
And yet there are many "sins of omission" of factual material. There is too much time spent on myth while barely skimming the surface when it comes to archeological evidence as well as classical Mediterranean sources.
There is also a great amount of picking and choosing by the author such as concentrating on just several tribes and forgetting the rest.
A great amount of arcane history is detailed in some parts whereas other significant parts of the history of the Celts are totally neglected. The book is a mess as it jumps around from Freud to Jung to ancient Greek philosophers (even Cocteau is brought into the mix) and wastes much time on dubious philosophical musings and half baked psychological interpretations by the author.
It reads as both being bombastically scholarly yet smacks of New Age philosophy.
Not recommended - especially for the beginner.

With the great Celtic revival that is happening worldwide, this is the best book for anyone interested in uncovering their roots. Readers of British, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Northwestern French, Basque, Belgian, French Canadian, Acadian, and Cajun! descent (among others) will find that they all have something in common here... This book is a God-sent! It encapsulates the history, sociology, politics, language, litterature and struggles of the great Celtic nation from several milleniums BC to today and offers a compelling look at one of the most important contributing races of modern Western thought alongside the Greek, Roman and German peoples. Get it and may this book sit next to your Bible at home. Amen!

This book is the most informative book I have found about the Celts. The explanation of the ancient meaning of the word Myth to the Historic Origins was unique! I truly loved this book.

Jean Markale's The Celts is a must. It is one of the most informative books on the Celts that I have ever read. Along with his King of the Celts, Women of the Celts, and Merlin, one is transported into that world of the Celts to find what beautiful, intelligent, magnificent people they were. The amount of research and sources in his books is truly unbelievable. These books are very close to my heart.