Kelterna

Västeuropas minst kända, men en gång största grupp av språk. Talare som kom i vägen för nya stormakter och fick en undanskymd plats i historien: * walesare – arvtagare till antika britter * korner och bretoner vid Kanalen * irer och skotska högländare – de gaeliska folken * galler och keltiberer – motståndare till det antika Rom Boken ger en lättsam presentation av dem alla.

The ridiculously funny history of Britain for adults from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Horrible Histories, perfect for fans of Unruly by David Mitchell.'If you could take just one history book to a desert island, this would be it. It is laugh out loud funny' Conn Iggulden, bestselling author of the Emperor series---------Ah, Britain. So special. The greatest nation on earth, some say. And we did it all on our own. Didn’t we…?As it happens Britannia got its name from the Romans, and for the past two centuries we have been ruled by Germans. As Horrible Histories author Terry Deary argues, nations and their leaders are defined by the enemies they make. You might even say those enemies made Britain what it is today...For instance, did you know:· Elizabeth I would count as a minor royal without the Spanish Armada?· Without the Nazis, Churchill would be remembered as an opposition windbag?· And the surprisingly sadistic Boudica would be forgotten if it weren't for the Roman Ninth Legion?After all, every nation sometimes needs a bit of unifying Blitz spirit, right? (although in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have accidentally let Corporal Hitler go in the first place).A History of Britain in Ten Enemies is a witty, whistlestop tour of British history that will have you laughing as you find out what they didn't teach you in school.---------'Ram-packed with mind-blowing facts, hilarious characters, and little-known tales' Dan Schreiber, author of The Theory of Everything Else ‘Packed with dinner-party-worthy anecdotes, the kind that will delight history buffs and newcomers alike’ Alice Loxton, The Telegraph'Playful, cheeky, and very clever, this is a book for anyone who ever wished there was a Horrible Histories for grown-ups' Kate Lister, author of A Curious History of Sex‘Told with characteristic wit and verve…not just an eye-opener, but a mind-opener’ Tracy Borman, author of The Private Lives of the Tudors Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller May 2025

A new history of the Celts that reveals how this once-forgotten people became a pillar of modern national identity in Britain, Ireland, and FranceBefore the Greeks and Romans, the Celts ruled the ancient world. They sacked Rome, invaded Greece, and conquered much of Europe, from Ireland to Turkey. Celts registered deeply on the classical imagination for a thousand years and were variously described by writers like Caesar and Livy as unruly barbarians, fearless warriors, and gracious hosts. But then, in the early Middle Ages, they vanished. In The Celts, Ian Stewart tells the story of their rediscovery during the Renaissance and their transformation over the next few centuries into one of the most popular European ancestral peoples.The Celts shows how the idea of this ancient people was recovered by scholars, honed by intellectuals, politicians, and other thinkers of various stripes, and adopted by cultural revivalists and activists as they tried to build European nations and nationalisms during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Long-forgotten, the Celts improbably came to be seen as the ancestors of most western Europeans—and as a pillar of modern national identity in Britain, Ireland, and France.Based on new research conducted across Europe and in the United States, The Celts reveals when and how we came to call much of Europe “Celtic,” why this idea mattered in the past, and why it still matters today, as the tide of nationalism is once again on the rise.

Britain is a land steeped inlegend. From the Scottish Islands to the valleys of Wales, or the coves andinlets of Cornwall, scarcely a hillock, spring or churchyard is without itsown story of mythical creatures, magical adventures or glimpses into anotherworld. Land of Mist and Magic collects and retells thesestories of ghosts, fairy changelings and demon dogs deeply embedded in thelandscape, together with those of more familiar heroes such as King Arthur,Beowulf and Robin Hood, that lie at the very threshold of recorded history. With introductory sectionssetting out the historical background and origin of the myths, the book iscomposed of beautiful retellings of the stories, illustrated from the BritishLibrary's unparalleled collection of manuscripts and printed books. Visuallystunning and packed with stirring and surprising tales, Land of Mist andMagic is a treasure-house of the stories that shaped our nation.

Early historic Scotland - from the fifth to the tenth century AD - was home to a variety of diverse peoples and cultures, all competing for land and supremacy. Yet by the eleventh century it had become a single, unified kingdom, known as Alba, under a stable and successful monarchy. How did this happen, and when? At the heart of this mystery lies the extraordinary influence of the Picts and of their neighbours, the Gaels - originally immigrants from Ireland.In this new and revised edition of her acclaimed book, Sally M. Foster establishes the nature of their contribution and, drawing on the latest archaeological evidence and research, highlights a huge number of themes, including the following: the origins of the Picts and Gaels; the significance of the remarkable Pictish symbols and other early historic sculpture; the art of war and the role of kingship in tribal society; settlement, agriculture, industry and trade; religious beliefs and the impact of Christianity; how the Picts and Gaels became Scots.

'THE BEST BOOK ON ROMAN BRITAIN I'VE READ IN AGES' TOM HOLLAND'A masterly evocation of the bloodiest year in British history.' ALICE ROBERTS'Evocative, authoritative . . . rich storytelling.' CAT JARMAN'An engaged, informed companion for the armchair time traveller...captures the thrill and the difficulties of interpreting the past'. TLS'Duncan has written a masterpiece - a journey and an investigation that fuses landscape and history, chasing the echoes of Boudica's rebellion and finding its physical traces that still surround us today.' NICHOLAS CRANE'A brilliant imagining of the past. Mackay's knowledge is profound, but lightly worn, his writing elegant and witty, and his enthusiasm infectious. A joy to read.' Dr Harry Sidebottom, University of Oxford, author or THE MAD EMPEROR'Mackay's journey into the past is hugely enjoyable.' BBC History Magazine'The places that Mackay visits, traverses and dwells in are vividly described as a conscious attempt to revive the past... there are real moments of joy and insight.' History TodayAlmost 2000 years ago, Boudica led the greatest rebellion Britain has ever seen. Within the space of a single blood-soaked year, she united the tribes to deliver blow after devastating blow to the Roman regime, culminating in a brutal, decisive battle.Archaeologist Duncan Mackay has spent a lifetime on the trail of Boudica. Beginning near his home in Norfolk, in the heart of Boudica's tribal territory, he embarks on a journey in the footsteps of Romans and Britons, exploring their villages, towns, forts and roads. The passage of two millennia has buried the world that Boudica knew, but Duncan finds that its echoes and physical traces still surround us - as long as you know where to look. The armies marched along the roads we still use, and died in their thousands in towns, cities and countryside where we still live today. The site of Boudica's last battle was long believed be lost to time, but the threads of the story all pull towards one remarkable, forgotten little corner of the English landscape.From the Breckland of Norfolk to the back streets of Colchester, from the remotest corner of Anglesey to the depths of the London Underground, Duncan takes us back two thousand years to retell the story of Britain's bloodiest year. Fusing ancient history, modern excavation, landscape exploration, and vivid reconstruction, Echolands weaves the long-lost tapestry of Boudica's war.

Queens Cartimandua and Boudica were both Celtic noblewomen, recorded by classical writers as part of a tradition of women who showed particular courage, ambition and political skill, and who were just as formidable in war as their husbands. They took on the status of Celtic goddesses and were central players in the struggle against the Roman annexation of Britain.Boudica led the rebellion against the Romans but her reputation may be largely symbolic. Using historical and archaeological evidence, Celtic Queen uncovers the arguably more impressive story of Queen Cartimandua, the independent ruler of the powerful Brigante tribe whose territory was the single largest Celtic kingdom in Britain.Cartimandua’s leadership in battle and political influence were probably much greater than Boudica’s. Unlike Boudica, wife of King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe, Cartimandua was the regent of the Brigante tribe in her own right. Her tribe prospered in the new Imperial world because she cooperated with the invaders and she held her position as queen until AD69. Cartimandua's territory was considerable, covering most of modern Cheshire, South and North Yorkshire, Lancashire, North Humberside, Cumbria, County Durham and Tyne and Wear. But she was seen as a shameless adulteress after an open affair with her husband’s armour bearer. Such sexual liberation was normal for powerful Celtic women but it scandalised Roman society.With many references to popular Celtic culture, their gods, beliefs, art and symbolism, as well as living conditions and the hillforts that would have been Cartimandua’s headquarters, Celtic Queen offers an insight into the life of this fascinating woman and the Romano/Celtic world in which she lived.

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.

This book takes a critical approach to the assumption that the origins of the English can be found in fifth- and sixth-century immigration from north-west Europe. It begins by evaluating the primary evidence, and discussing the value of ethnicity in historical explanation. The author proposes an alternative explanatory model that sets short- and medium-term events and processes in the context of the longue durée, illustrated here through the agricultural landscape. She concludes that the origins of the English should rather be sought among late Romano-British communities, evolving, adapting, and innovating in a new, post-imperial context.Though focusing on England between the fifth and seventh centuries, this volume explores themes of universal interest—the role of immigration in cultural transformation; the importance of the landscape as a mnemonic for cultural change; and the utility of a common property rights approach as an analytical tool.

Memory and Foresight in the Celtic World delves deep into the experience of Celtic communities and individuals in the late medieval period through to the modern age.

Writing 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.

They may be coated in layers of myth and pious anecdote but dig deep enough and the pioneering leaders of Celtic Christianity are revealed as reassuringly human individuals, responding to their faith by deliberately living on the edges of society.From the goddess-nun Brigid and absent-minded Cainnech to severe ascetics such as Columbanus and Baldred, together they demonstrate a close connection with the natural world, an astonishing self-discipline and, above all, a rigorous commitment to what it meant to be ‘pilgrims for Christ’. Establishing a network of influential monastic communities, they travelled from the territories of the Atlantic seaboard – Ireland, Wales and Cornwall – across Scotland, the north of England and deep into continental Europe, transforming the religious experience of all they encountered.

A WATERSTONES BEST HISTORY BOOK '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, GuardianWho 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.

The Cornovii are one of the less well-known tribes of Roman Britain. Situated on the fringes of the civilian zone of the Province, they emerged only slowly from a pre- Roman background which is still largely unknown to us. Their territory, centered on Shropshire but extending into Staffordshire, Herefordshire and parts of Cheshire, and Worcestershire, was constantly traversed by the Roman army.Even when a civilian administration was finally established, with a capital city at Wroxeter, the army was never far away, and it had a profound effect on the development of the new civitas. Written and later updated by the late eminent archaeologist Graham Webster, this is a classic study that continues to resonate to this day.

The Coritani were one of the largest tribes in Roman Britain. Their territory stretched over much of what we would now call the East Midlands, from the Nene to the Humber, and from the North Sea to the hills of south Derbyshire. Within this extensive and varied landscape the level of civic achievement varied from the squalor of the native villages in the valley of the Trent to the comparative splendour of the civitas capital at Leicester.Undertaken by the late acclaimed archaeologist and ancient historian Malcolm Todd, this classic study of the tribe is a vital and influential piece of research that continues resonate today.

The history of the island of Ireland is both complex and connected to the wider world: it was the first place in the British and Irish archipelago to be settled by Christian monks, and has suffered Viking invasion, Norman colonization, British decimation, mass migration to the New World, civil war and eventually independence for Éire in the early 20th century. Despite its often troubled past, Ireland is today a dynamic island with a blossoming economy and culture. Arranged chronologically from ancient times to the 21st century, History of Ireland provides a pictorial exploration of a land that is well-known but often little understood. Discover the remains of the country’s many Iron Age hill forts, such as the atmospheric stone fort at Grianán Aileach; explore the first Christian colonies in the monastic settlement at Glendalough in County Wicklow; read of the legend of St Patrick, and stood atop a hillside and banished snakes from Ireland – prompting all serpents to slither away into the sea; discover the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Celtic Gospel written in the 9th century; learn about the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century, where English and Scottish settlers established Protestant communities, causing lasting communal strife; understand the Easter Rising and the traumatic war for independence, which led to Ireland’s current political shape; and experience modern Ireland, a place of prosperity, with thriving cities like Dublin and Belfast alongside beautiful countryside.

Columba 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. My own 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

A rich and rare approach to the mystical and the ‘miraculous’, the strange but real parts of a life that float 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