The Celts

Spanning two thousand years, this history traces a North European people whose reach and influence matched that of Greece and Rome. The author begins with their early days as a band of warriors who went into battle unclothed and kept the heads of slain enemies as trophies. From there the narrative follows how their power and ideas spread across a vast territory, from the Middle East to the Atlantic coast.

The book examines the distinct culture, mythology and artistic style that set the Celts apart, with the art often regarded as the finest achievement north of the Alps since the end of the Ice Age. It also recounts how the Romans came to fear them, coining the phrase "furor celticus," and notes that at the peak of Roman power, cities as far apart as Ankara, Cologne, Belgrade and Milan spoke Celtish.

The author presents the Celts as the cultural forebears of many modern Northern Europeans. Their language remains in use today, spoken by more than two million people in Brittany, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.