European history: the Celts Books
Luath Press Ltd Pagan Symbols of the Picts: The Symbology of
Book SynopsisStuart McHardy examines the Pictish symbols which have been discovered on various items across Scotland. The book sets out a cohesive interpretation of the Pictish past, using a variety of both temporal and geographical sources. This interpretation serves as a backdrop for his analysis of the symbols themselves, providing a context for his suggestion that there was an underlying series of ideas and beliefs behind the creation of the symbols.Trade ReviewMcHardy is punchy and uncompromising when apportioning blame for the facile labelling that he feels has compromised our understanding of the Picts up to now. – TOM MORTON, Scottish Review of Books
£9.49
The Lilliput Press Ltd Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages
Book SynopsisWhen the first edition of this book appeared in 1972 it was acclaimed as a revolutionary breakthrough in the study of late medieval Ireland and of the autonomous lordships into which it was divided. Since then it has repeatedly and extensively cited as an authority, but has long been out of print. This edition of a pioneering and brilliant survey work is comprehensively revised and enlarged in the light of additional research by the author, and other scholars, carried out in the intervening period. New information on late Irish law and the lordships has been added, and the glossary and bibliography extended. Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland is an indispensable adjunct to all students and readers in medieval Irish and European history.
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group A Brief History of Stonehenge
Book SynopsisA concise history of the world's greatest stone circle, Stonehenge, by Britain's leading expert. Every aspect of Stonehenge is re-considered in Aubrey Burl's new analysis. He explains for the first time how the outlying Heel Stone long predates Stonehenge itself, serving as a trackway marker in the prehistoric Harroway. He uncovers new evidence that the Welsh bluestones were brought to Stonehenge by glaciation rather than by man. And he reveals just how far the design of Stonehenge was influenced by Breton styles and by Breton cults of the dead.Meticulously research sets the record straight on the matter of Stonehenge's astronomical alignments. Although the existence of a sightline to the midsummer sunrise is well known, the alignment and the viewing-position are different from popular belief. And the existence of an earlier alignment to the moon and a later one to the midwinter sunset has been largely unrealised.One puzzle remains. The site of Stonehenge lies at the heart of a vast six-mile wide graveyard, but before it was built there appears to have been a mysterious gap two miles across on that site. Burl argues that earlier totem-pole style constructions served a ceremonial purpose for the living -- to celebrate success in the hunt.
£10.99
Brown Dog Books BOUDICA THE TRUTH
Book SynopsisIn the province of Britannia during AD60. the brutality of the Roman Empire forced catastrophic retaliation by the people. Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, rose in rebellion, joined by thousands of her fellow countrymen. Together they engaged in a deadly conflict and 80,000 of these poor souls lost their lives fighting to free themselves from oppression and slavery. They were defeated but their indomitable spirit lives on in all human beings who value justice and the right to live as free people. In this book, the story of their struggle is laid bare, falsities are swept away and orthodox history is challenged. A five year investigation provokes and offers an alternative location to Watling Street and unveils that this last great battle occurred instead in Flintshire, North Wales. The blood-soaked earth demands that the truth be revealed and all of us must look again at this momentous act of sacrifice by our ancestors. To the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth. (Voltaire)
£9.99
Wild Goose Publications The Oratory of Light: Poems in the spirit of St
Book SynopsisA rich and rare approach to the mystical and the miraculous', the strange but real parts of a life that ?oat between earth and heaven, mud and glory Beautifully achieved with a subtle beauty, music and growing intensity that makes a fruitful vine of the whole. John F. DeaneSt Columba, or Columcille, and the island of Iona are the inspiration for James Harpur in this book of delicate lyric poems. Delving into the stories of the saint including visions of angels, struggles with Picts, and various miracles Harpur mingles his own poetic imagination with the spirit of Columba and the landscape of Iona: the result is poetry full of spiritual freedom and redolent of an age of wonder in which the natural world and the elements were perceived to be in harmony with the divine. James Harpur has published seven books of poetry and won a number of awards, including the Michael Hartnett Poetry Prize and the UK National Poetry Competition. He is a member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of the arts, and lives in the wilds of West Cork. www.jamesharpur.com
£9.93
The History Press Ltd The Age of Athelstan
Book SynopsisIn an age of evocative names like Eric Bloodaxe and Egil Skallagrimson, one name has been lost in the mists of time: that of Athelstan, ruler of all Britain. From the first raids of the Vikings on the shores of Britain and Ireland, the book traces the response to threat across the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic worlds.The rise of the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and later, of the English, built from the debris of Viking destruction is analysed in detail and compared to the struggle for independence in Northumbria. Athelstan''s achievement in establishing an empire for which he became famous is a key focus of the tale, along with the extraordinary history of the hunt for the lost battle of Brunanburh (AD 937), a clash which defined a people. For hundreds of years, no king would rule as much of Britain as Athelstan. His reputation survived the medieval period in the form of histories, songs and poems only to be lost at a later date, and yet its essence can still be found today all over the country.
£16.19
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Romes Enemies 4
Book SynopsisA concise illustrated study of the Celt-Iberian warriors who fought the Roman legions in the first two centuries BC. The Republican Roman army suffered heavy losses as a result of the hit and run' tactics employed by the Hispanics in Ancient Spain. After preparatory chanting, the Celt-Iberians would attack en masse and in apparent disorder. At a pre-arranged signal the warriors would retreat as if defeated. This sequence might be repeated over several days, until finally the Romans lost their discipline and broke formation in pursuit. At this point the Hispanics would quickly mount a counter-attack that would decimate the legions. Accompanied by photographs and line art, as well as 8 superb colour plates by the legendary artist Angus McBride, this volume explores the organisation, tactics, history, arms and armour of Rome's Spanish enemies.Table of ContentsThe Peoples of Protohistoric Spain · Warfare in Ancient Spain · Chronology · Impact of the Hispanic Wars on Rome · The Campaigns of Viriatus · The Numantine Wars · Armour and Weapons · Hispanic Cavalry · Balearic Slingers · The Plates
£11.69
McFarland & Co Inc Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld
Book Synopsis The early medieval manuscripts of Ireland and Britain contain tantalizing clues about the cosmology, religion and mythology of native Celtic cultures, despite censorship and revision by Christian redactors. Focusing on the latest research and translations, the author provides fresh insight into the beliefs and practices of the Iron Age inhabitants of Ireland, Britain and Gaul. Chapters cover creation and cosmogony, the deities of the Gaels, feminine power in narrative sources, druidic belief, priestesses and magical rites.
£20.89
Arc Humanities Press The Emergence of the English
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£16.95
The Medieval and Modern Centre Late Medieval Irish Law Manuscripts: A
Book SynopsisLate Medieval Irish Law Manuscripts: A Reappraisal of Methodology and Context challenges the long-held view that Irish law manuscripts produced in the secular law schools of the late medieval period are only the work of antiquarians.This book examines the texts in their political, social and cultural contexts, particularly in relation to the Irish revival of the fourteenth century onwards. Finnane's examination of the manuscripts includes: legal interpretation and the role of glossing and commenting on older canonical texts' in establishing the authority of those texts in the present the use of the manuscripts in legal education the use of the past in providing legitimacy and authority, particularly in a legal context. Finnane argues that the manuscripts are the work of jurists authorising a revived legal system connected to a re-emergent Irish political elite, after more than a century of Anglo Norman invasion and rule.
£24.29
Birlinn General Celtic Blessings
Book SynopsisWriting well over a thousand years ago, the Celtic saints and their followers who penned them reflected not just the cares and concerns of their own times, but also gave voice to the universal human experience – the hopes, fears, joys and anxieties that are as much part of modern existence as they were in the Dark Ages. Meditations on birth, death and everything else that comes in between, as well as comments on the rhythms of everyday life, are mixed with musings on the natural world, the divine and, of course, the eternal questions that everyone asks.
£7.59
Headline Publishing Group Swordland: The Invader Series
Book SynopsisA tale of war, death, lust, and scheming, set in the starkly beautiful landscapes of medieval Ireland and Wales.Robert FitzStephen is a warrior down on his luck. Arrogant, cold, but a brilliant soldier, FitzStephen commands a castle - yet although his mother was a princess his father was a lowly steward. When a Welsh rebellion brings defeat and a crippling siege, his highborn comrades scorn him, betraying him to the enemy. A hostage of his cousin, Prince Rhys, FitzStephen is disgraced, seemingly doomed to a life of obscurity and shame.Then King Diarmait arrives . . .Diarmait is the ambitious overlord of an Irish kingdom. Forced to flee by the High King of Ireland, he seeks to reclaim his lands by any means possible - and that includes inviting the Normans in. With nothing left to lose - and perhaps a great deal to gain - FitzStephen agrees to lead the Irishman's armies, and to drive Diarmait's enemies from his kingdom. His price? Acceptance, perhaps . . . or perhaps a kingdom of his own?Butler's debut novel, Swordland is a powerful, impeccably researched story of medieval Celtic life, of the loves, losses, and hatreds of some of the most important figures in Irish and British history.Trade ReviewSuperbly researched and thrillingly told, Swordland is a vivid portrait of the ferocious but godly Normans as they rampage through Wales and Ireland. Writing in a lucid, descriptive style that brings to life landscapes, characters and battles, Butler delights in a narrative that blazes with intrigue and spine-chilling bloody action, while still managing to weave themes of religious affiliation, kinship, and questions over birthright like golden threads in a medieval tapestry. Anthony Quinn, critically acclaimed author of Disappeared
£7.59
Profile Books Ltd The Celts: A Sceptical History
Book SynopsisA WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK OF 2022 'Simon Jenkins, as ever, writes with clarity and insight' Times 'One of the liveliest commentators in Britain, always worth reading and pleasingly contrarian' Jeremy Paxman, Guardian Who were the Celts? Were they a people, a civilisation, an empire, or a fiction of historical imagination? They flit as ghosts through Europe's ancient past, purported ancestors of the Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish and Bretons. Yet they have never been identified with any one land, or with any one history or language. Simon Jenkins argues compellingly that the 'Celts' is a misleading concept, bundling together quite distinct peoples. The word keltoi first appears in Greek, applied generally to aliens or 'barbarians' - and theories of Celticism continue to fuel many of the prejudices and misconceptions that divide the British Isles to this day. Fascinating and increasingly relevant, who the Celts were - or weren't - goes to the heart of the ongoing argument over the future of a dis-United Kingdom.Trade ReviewSimon Jenkins, as ever, writes with clarity and insight -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *Jenkins has a journalist's ear for the outrageous -- John Carey * Sunday Times *There's much here to interest and stimulate -- Ewen A Cameron * Literary Review *Comprehensive and informative -- Alastair Mabbott * Herald *Particularly good ... The old familiar identities of English, Scots, Welsh and Irish are not what they used to be -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *Hugely important to the history of the British Isles yet commonly misunderstood and neglected by contemporary audiences, the story of the Celts is finally told in a coherent and engaging fashion by the bestselling author of A Short History of England * Waterstones Best Books of 2022: History *Praise for A Short History of England: 'A lucid and handsomely illustrated narrative * Times *Jenkins is one of the liveliest commentators at work in Britain, always worth reading and pleasingly contrarian -- Jeremy Paxman * Guardian *This is traditional, kings-and-things, great-men history with all its dates and famous quotations in place ... Jenkins has a newspaper columnist's aphoristic verve * Spectator *A characteristically bold, wry, fluent, combative gallop through English history -- Max HastingsFull of good writing and lively anecdotes ... Food for thought * New Statesman *Immediately accessible * Prospect *Where Jenkins excels is in his very journalistic approach ... The historical events are joined up, and work as narrative * Time Out *
£10.44
Sacristy Press Cuthbert of Farne: A novel of Northumbria’s
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£11.69
Wild Goose Publications Columba: Politician, penitent and pilgrim
Book SynopsisColumba is one of the best known and most well documented figures in Celtic Christianity and has consistently been Scotland's most popular saint. His journey from his native Ireland, where he was born 1500 years ago, took him eventually to Iona where he established a monastery which was to have a hugely important role in the Christianisation of the British Isles. Iona remains today a spiritual beacon and magnet drawing pilgrims from across the world keen to learn about his legacy and follow his way. In this substantially updated and revised version of his acclaimed biography, which has never been out of print since it was first published 25 years ago, Ian Bradley examines Columba's character, life and achievements. He explores the key themes of Columban Christianity politics, penitence and pilgrimage and their sometimes uncomfortable message for us today. Ian Bradley is Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at the University of St Andrews, a regular broadcaster, preacher and lecturer and the author of more than forty books, six of which are on aspects of Celtic Christianity. A book which is clear, useful and well grounded. Esther de Waal, Church TimesSome readers have the habit of marking key passages in the pages of their books. Myown copy of this one is covered in pen marks. It's marvellous. Rennie McOwan, Scots MagazineIan Bradley has done great things for Celtic Spirituality. He is not interested in populism or trendiness, but seeks an accurate dissemination of trustworthy information. And like the best academics, he changes his mind when new data requires it. This is a good book about Scotland's greatest Irish evangelist. John L Bell, Wild Goose Resource Group
£11.99
Sacristy Press The Song of Hild
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£27.00
