The Celts : A Sceptical History

Simon Jenkins, as ever, writes with clarity and insight’ The Times ‘Jenkins has a journalist’s ear for the outrageous’ Sunday Times ‘There’s much here to interest and stimulate’ Literary Review The history of the Celts is the history of a misnomer. There has never been a distinct people, race or tribe claiming the name of Celtic, though remnants of different languages and cultures remain throughout Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. The word keltoi first appears in Greek as applied generally to aliens or ‘barbarians’ – and theories of Celticism continue to fuel many of the prejudices and misconceptions that divide the peoples of the British Isles to this day. Often seen as unimportant or irrelevant adjuncts to English history, in The Celts Simon Jenkins offers a compelling counterargument. This is a fascinating and timely debate on who the Celts really were – or weren’t – and what their legacy should be in an increasingly dis-United Kingdom.