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Peter Berresford Ellis, is regarded as one of the pre-eminent Celtic scholars and has published many books on the subject. He is a Fellow of three Royal Societies in historical and antiquarian fields and the recipient of many awards and honours for his work. He is also, under the pseudonym Peter Tremayne he is the author of the bestselling Sister Fidelma murder mysteries set in Ireland in the 7th Century.
When this authoritative but accessible account of Celtic life first appeared in 1998, as The Ancient World of the Celts , it caused something of a storm. Some archaeologists, it seemed, were prepared to deny the existence of a distinct Celtic culture, preferring to call them Iron Age people. Berresford Ellis has no truck with such anti-Celtic revisionism, For centuries, he says, the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and mythology, artwork and treasure. He reveals the mysterious origins of the Celts, and explores their myths and legends, religious beliefs and learning (not least in the fields of medicine and cosmology) the role of the druids and the military expertise of their leaders (including the legendary Boudicca).The new edition differs in one respect. It contains a timely preface, bringing the Celtic controversy up to date in a suitably calm but undeniably sardonic manner. After all, asks Berresford Ellis, who speaks Iron Age ? (Kirkus UK)
