The Tribes of Britain [Paperback]

David Miles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Who are the English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish? New scientific techniques can be used to explore this complex genetic jigsaw—ancient Britons and Saxons, Celts and Romans, Vikings and Normans, and more recent migrations. Drawing on the latest discoveries, this book both challenges traditional views of history and provides new insight into the British and Irish today. David Miles is a Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford and a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. The author of many books, he is also a former columnist for the London Times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'[Miles] draws admirably on history, demography, sociology, biology, and even climatology in this wide-ranging cornucopia.' THE TIMES (2/9/06) 'Coming at a time of surely historical levels of immigration, his hugely detailed survey... provides a vital background to any discussion of why Britain is the way it is. It will certainly warm the hearts of increasingly beleaguered multiculturists.' SUNDAY TIMES (3/9/06) 'A big, eccentric tract written with a Victorian zeal to educate and improve the reader... [a] magisterial work.' TELEGRAPH (26/8/06)

About the Author

David Miles is Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage. Previously Director of the Oxford Archaeological Unit, he is a Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford and a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. He is a member of the Society of Antiquaries. Author of many books and articles on archaeology, he was for 10 years a columnist on The Oxford Mail & Times and broadcasts regularly on radio and TV (The Today Programme, Chronicle, Tomorrow's World).

Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753817993
• ISBN-13: 978-0753817995
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Janus face of history, January 22, 2006

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tribes of Britain: Who Are We? and Where Do We Come From? (Hardcover)

Writing of one's own land carries certain risks. If the view is too internally focussed, the dynamics of human movements are omitted. Yet a study giving an overview of our migrations around the planet may just as easily skip past details of nation forming. National histories have a tendency to reinforce local mythologies and traditions. Global views, on the other hand, overlook those traditional icons. David Miles has struck a fine balance with this study of British societies down the ages.

Britain, he contends, holds a special place in human prehistory and beyond. Situated at the edge of the EurAsian landmass, it was populated by early hominids long before the Ice Age [see "Fairweather Eden" by Michael Pitts & Mark Roberts]. When the ice arrived, humans were pushed back to the Continent, only to return again as the glaciers retreated. One of the more notable archaeological finds is "The Red Lady of Paviland". This skeleton was unearthed in 1823 and later proved to be the first early human fossil. It also was determined that it was a male. The remains are now dated at 26 000 BCE. Yet more appropriate is the Amesbury Archer. This grave, near Stonehenge, contained the body of an adult male who'd been born and raised in the Northern Alps. To Miles, these cycles of migration set a pattern for subsequent settlement. They also laid the groundwork for British expansion in later centuries.

At some point we must ask "Who are the Britons and who are the immigrants?" This is the very point Miles stresses as he explains the roots and impact of people entering the British Isles. The Irish, firm in their ties to their own island, clearly have Continental roots. How close are they to the Scots and other peoples crossing the Channel. The science of molecular genetics, which Miles cites frequently, helps formulate a picture of the origins of the population of The Isles. He further explains that far from enjoying a "splendid isolation" from the Continent, people, goods and cultural norms moved back and forth across those waters. The Channel proved less a barrier than a liquid bridge. Yet, not all the exchanges were trade or brides, as the Roman occupations demonstrate. The Romans added much to the cultural base of Britain, but when they left, there was competition for land and resources.

After the Romans, it's typical schoolroom fare to learn of Angles, Saxons and other Northern European invaders "taking over" Britain. Yet neither these, nor the notorious Norsemen, proved to be displacers of the existing population. All these entering peoples made settlements, intermarried and contributed something new to the society. The last "successful" invasion by William's "Normans" were merely another step in the amalgamation of several populations. That William also brought new forms of administration, such as the Domesday Book of tax records, proved a blessing in land management and legal standards. Nor was the shift of peoples always westward. The religious conflicts of later years saw Poland occupied by so many Scots that "skapy jak Szkot" became a common expression for somebody tightfisted with money and dour of expression. As the Empire grew, so did the number leaving Britain for colonial opportunity.

Miles has produced a work of infinite interest. It's immensely appropriate today given the influx of people to Britain from among its former colonies as well as other lands. His concluding chapter, "New Britons" is an intense examination of today's "problems" with people viewed as "outsiders". Since everybody in The Isles is an "outsider" or the descendents of such folk, the value of this book becomes starkly clear. With the weighty scholarship underlying Miles' narrative, it seems callous to criticise it for lacks. Maps would have been useful, particularly to those not living in The Isles. The "References" demonstrate the extent of Miles' research, but they are organised by chapter - a full bibilography isn't provided. These are not, however, detrimental to what Miles has achieved with this superb work. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Adequate history, but not special. Where are the maps?, November 11, 2005

By 

David Wilson (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tribes of Britain: Who Are We? and Where Do We Come From? (Hardcover)

An adequate overview of the history of the British Isles, but I have to agree with another reviewer's judgment of "not what I expected." I was anticipating a full volume that focused on the pre-Roman history of the British Isles and the different peoples known from ancient sources and archeological investigation. But that is all over and done with in the first fifth of the book. Then it's on to the Romans and medieval invaders like the Angles, Saxons and Vikings -- fairly well covered territory.

This is not a bad book. It's just not special. Caution: have a supplementary historical atlas at hand as you read. There are no maps in the book, a stunningly bad decision by the publisher.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, September 25, 2005

By 

Phil - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tribes of Britain: Who Are We? and Where Do We Come From? (Hardcover)

I was expecting an analysis of the British population based on DNA. There was virtually none of that in here. It is a mildly interesting history of Britain.