Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story

The heritage of the Celts turns up from Portugal to Romania, from Scotland to Spain. Yet debate continues about who exactly were the Celts, where ultimately they came from, and whether the modern Celtic-speakers of the British Isles and Brittany are related to the Continental Celts we know from ancient history. So a fresh approach is needed. Blood of the Celts meets this challenge, pulling together evidence from genetics, archaeology, history and linguistics in an accessible and illuminating way, taking the reader on a voyage of discovery from the origins of the ancient Celts to the modern Celtic Revival, with some startling results.

Table of Contents

Prologue; Timelines; 1 The Voices of the Celts; 2 The Gauls and Celtic; 3 Bell Beakers and Language; 4 The Indo-European Family; 5 Stelae to Bell Beaker; 6 The Iron Sword; 7 On the Move; 8 Celts vs Romans; 9 Christian Celts; 10 Loss and Revival; Appendix: Surnames and DNA.

'Thoughtful, thought-provoking, erudite yet accessible, with an engaging style ... The discussion of current DNA research is what gives this book a particular originality and edge. Where it challenges either long-held or more recent dogmatisms, it does so with grace and sensitivity.'
Miranda Aldhouse-Green, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, Cardiff University

'Jean Manco is a phenomenon. In Blood of the Celts she sieves the swirling murk of academic specialisms (linguistics, literature, genetics and archaeology) to extract the gold. Once again she proves to be an excellent interpreter of interesting times.'
David Miles, Former Chief Archaeologist, English Heritage