What do you think?
Rate this book
Celts: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Celtic History and Mythology, Including Their Battles Against the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars
If you want to discover the captivating history of the Celts, then keep reading...
Free History BONUS Inside!
Today, the word Celtic means so many things. To most of us, it means something related to Ireland. We think of intricately designed Irish crosses, four-leaf clovers, and some of the more well-known stories of Celtic mythology. However, while Celtic culture has stayed alive in Ireland, its roots run much deeper, and they extend much farther than the small island nation off the coast of modern-day Great Britain.
The story of the Celts is one of a rapid rise to prominence followed by a slow decline due to the influence of the Romans. But even so, Celtic culture has remained strong in Europe and has been able to persist to this day. So, even though the Celts represent just a small part of today’s modern world, they are a massive part of its history, which means that studying the ancient Celts today is a great way to unlock some of the secrets buried in the depths of ancient history.
In Celts: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Celtic History and Mythology, Including Their Battles Against the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars, you will discover topics such as
Who Were the Celts? The Celtic Migrations The Many Celtic Tribes of Europe The Celtiberians The Gallic Wars The Insular Celts Celtic Warriors Celtic Way of Life Celtic Religion Celtic Art And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the Celts, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
Free History BONUS Inside!
Today, the word Celtic means so many things. To most of us, it means something related to Ireland. We think of intricately designed Irish crosses, four-leaf clovers, and some of the more well-known stories of Celtic mythology. However, while Celtic culture has stayed alive in Ireland, its roots run much deeper, and they extend much farther than the small island nation off the coast of modern-day Great Britain.
The story of the Celts is one of a rapid rise to prominence followed by a slow decline due to the influence of the Romans. But even so, Celtic culture has remained strong in Europe and has been able to persist to this day. So, even though the Celts represent just a small part of today’s modern world, they are a massive part of its history, which means that studying the ancient Celts today is a great way to unlock some of the secrets buried in the depths of ancient history.
In Celts: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Celtic History and Mythology, Including Their Battles Against the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars, you will discover topics such as
Who Were the Celts? The Celtic Migrations The Many Celtic Tribes of Europe The Celtiberians The Gallic Wars The Insular Celts Celtic Warriors Celtic Way of Life Celtic Religion Celtic Art And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about the Celts, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!
110 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 26, 2020
Not as captivating as the subtitle would like to think. Lots of speculation and a startlingly high number of sentences beginning with "Some evidence would suggest..." In fairness, there aren't many source texts and artifacts from the ancient Celtic period since the bulk of the tribes got Romanized and as a result much of the information we have on the tribes from the continent is suspect--i.e., skewed to make the Celts look stupid and the opponents, the Greeks and Romans, look civilized. The book would have probably been more interesting if they had expanded the focus a little and written about things they do have materials for, such as how the Celtics changed a populace when they got absorbed into another culture, or perhaps how they influenced, or contributed to, Christianity.
But a decent overview overall. How interesting to think that if you are of European descent you almost certainly have Celtic blood. Most of us think of Ireland and the British Isles when we hear Celts, but the Island Celts (insular Celts as the book calls them) only comprise a small number of the whole. It's just that the Island Celts survived the longest; most of the continental Celts were absorbed into Greek and Roman cultures by around the time of Christ, whereas the Island Celts didn't start assimilating until the Normal conquests (I think so anyway--don't quote me on that--although, realistically, you probably weren't planning to anyway. Let's face it...).
But a decent overview overall. How interesting to think that if you are of European descent you almost certainly have Celtic blood. Most of us think of Ireland and the British Isles when we hear Celts, but the Island Celts (insular Celts as the book calls them) only comprise a small number of the whole. It's just that the Island Celts survived the longest; most of the continental Celts were absorbed into Greek and Roman cultures by around the time of Christ, whereas the Island Celts didn't start assimilating until the Normal conquests (I think so anyway--don't quote me on that--although, realistically, you probably weren't planning to anyway. Let's face it...).
January 2, 2022
A very useful summary that makes clear what is agreed, what is contentious and what is simply unknown. I appreciate that respect for the reader’s intelligence and capacity to deal with ambiguity. The list of sources is helpful.
I enjoyed reading it and adjusting my understanding. It’s no mean feat to keep readers interested while sticking to what can be supported by evidence. Worked for me.
I enjoyed reading it and adjusting my understanding. It’s no mean feat to keep readers interested while sticking to what can be supported by evidence. Worked for me.
July 19, 2023
A solid overview of celtic history.
From the etymology of the word Celt to the mythology and culture synonymous with it today this book gave a great synopsis touching on all the information but not digging too deep into any one branch of info, reading much like a late night cram session before a test.
From the etymology of the word Celt to the mythology and culture synonymous with it today this book gave a great synopsis touching on all the information but not digging too deep into any one branch of info, reading much like a late night cram session before a test.
August 8, 2020
A short, but excellent read! Provides a good insight into the history of the Celtic peoples.
July 10, 2019
Engaging and eye opening
This is great book on a culture that most people don't know much about. I for one believed it dealt specifically with Irish culture but this book has opened my eyes as to how prevalent the Celts were not just in Britain but in the European continent as well. I enjoyed that it was a short book but contains a lot of great a d detailed information. I could not stop reading it.
This is great book on a culture that most people don't know much about. I for one believed it dealt specifically with Irish culture but this book has opened my eyes as to how prevalent the Celts were not just in Britain but in the European continent as well. I enjoyed that it was a short book but contains a lot of great a d detailed information. I could not stop reading it.
June 29, 2021
This book was full of surprises I had to share with friends! If you are Christian there are many surprising facts in here that make a clearer picture of people and tribes mentioned in the Old Testament. I have seen some documentary shows about the Celtic people, I feel I learned more from this book. I would not have thought they were so advanced, especially in art. There are some nice photos of artistic pieces, and more to it than the swirling lovers knot designs we are so familiar with today. This, and other Captivating History books, are not very long but contain more information than I have found elsewhere. I will be forever grateful for discovering these books and have already read 5 and hope to one day read them all!
January 13, 2023
I was definitely hoping for more in depth look at Celtic mythology (which was in the title as one of the main topics!) I thought the history was interesting and taught me a lot I didn't know, like how widespread the Celt culture was at one point. And I thought the author did a god job of explaining why it's difficult to delve into the religion of the Celts as they were a varied culture with no written records BUT I did think they could have spent a bit more time discussing some of the dieties who were commonly and widespread worshipped and maybe taking a closer look at any archeological evidence of the religion. It was a super short section at the end of the book.
March 9, 2021
It helped me while reading
, Adrian Goldsworthy.
, Adrian Goldsworthy. May 5, 2020
History of the Celts
This is probably the best guide to Celtic history that I have ever read. Each section is concise and informative.
This is probably the best guide to Celtic history that I have ever read. Each section is concise and informative.
July 7, 2022
I listened to the audio book version. It would’ve been a lot better if the reader knew how to pronounce a lot of the names.
July 10, 2022
Interesting book. Definitely felt like I learned a lot.
January 15, 2023
An interesting history of the Celtics. There is a lot that is not known about these people.
April 26, 2024
This is a cool introduction to the history of Celts, and despite its short span, it still feels the history of Celts is mostly forgotten, so a longer version wouldn't be a lot longer.
January 12, 2025
An interesting read about the people considered the Celts. Both quick and informative, I enjoyed this Quick Look at this subject.
November 12, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this study of The Celts with chapters on their origin, way of life, religion, art and more. It is so refreshing to come across history written in a very accessible manner.
November 20, 2019
It really is unfortunate that the Celts were not interested in writing down their history. From this text, we learn that the Celts were wide-ranging peoples who lived in an incredible number of countries: (places now called) Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Serbia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, as well as England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. That is some landmass -- to be documented over so much territory without a single word written by the Celts themselves, is amazing.
We learn that the weakness of the Celts is their lack of political unity or structure. They were as likely to fight with each other as they were to band together to fight an enemy. Their strength was their common language and culture. Generally, the expansion of the Romans into Western Europe came at the expense of the Celts. I did not know that the Gallic Wars were essentially Julius Caesar fighting the Celts of (what is now) France.
'Thank you' to the author for including such topics as Celtic daily life, their social structure, Celtic government, Celtic religion (they practiced polytheistic paganism), and Celtic art. Surprisingly, the Celts were an agricultural society that was deeply religious and used raiding as a way to further their way of life.
One fascinating bit of info about the Celts and Stonehenge is that (through carbon dating), Stonehenge does not belong to the Celtic religion. Stonehenge appeared about 1000 years before the Celts came to England.
We learn that the weakness of the Celts is their lack of political unity or structure. They were as likely to fight with each other as they were to band together to fight an enemy. Their strength was their common language and culture. Generally, the expansion of the Romans into Western Europe came at the expense of the Celts. I did not know that the Gallic Wars were essentially Julius Caesar fighting the Celts of (what is now) France.
'Thank you' to the author for including such topics as Celtic daily life, their social structure, Celtic government, Celtic religion (they practiced polytheistic paganism), and Celtic art. Surprisingly, the Celts were an agricultural society that was deeply religious and used raiding as a way to further their way of life.
One fascinating bit of info about the Celts and Stonehenge is that (through carbon dating), Stonehenge does not belong to the Celtic religion. Stonehenge appeared about 1000 years before the Celts came to England.
January 21, 2020
Very great book!
November 5, 2019
We Just Don’t Know
This small ebook covers roughly 800 years of Celtic history, from the coalescing of warrior-centered groups in Central Europe to their absorption into Roman and Irish cultures.
The book is pleasant and somewhat thoughtful, not a total hack job like some history books on the platform. However, it repeats the mantra every two pages that there just isn’t enough evidence to know for sure. Know what? you might ask. Well, anything. The book could have laid out that fact once in the beginning, rather than stopping the narrative to remind us after every assertion. Hopefully this wasn’t done to pad the book to get to 100 pages.
This small ebook covers roughly 800 years of Celtic history, from the coalescing of warrior-centered groups in Central Europe to their absorption into Roman and Irish cultures.
The book is pleasant and somewhat thoughtful, not a total hack job like some history books on the platform. However, it repeats the mantra every two pages that there just isn’t enough evidence to know for sure. Know what? you might ask. Well, anything. The book could have laid out that fact once in the beginning, rather than stopping the narrative to remind us after every assertion. Hopefully this wasn’t done to pad the book to get to 100 pages.
October 25, 2019
Love history
Many of us are probably from ancient Celtic backgrounds and it is interesting to know more about them. My DNA suggests that I may have come from one of these groups thru time.
Many of us are probably from ancient Celtic backgrounds and it is interesting to know more about them. My DNA suggests that I may have come from one of these groups thru time.
August 27, 2019
Very good
Good summary of aspects of Celtic origin theories. Also presented goodnfacts onnhow widespread culture was and how advanced in certain ways
Good summary of aspects of Celtic origin theories. Also presented goodnfacts onnhow widespread culture was and how advanced in certain ways
October 14, 2019
It was a good read. Pretty basic but good general information.
December 18, 2020
A clear guide to the history of Celtic people, straight-forwardly set-out and giving the right level of detail without being too academic or dull.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews