Full name: Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain

Author: Ronald Hutton Year: 2009 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Non Fiction, Religion Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780300144857 9780300170856 0300144857 0300170858

Crushed by the Romans in the first century A.D., the ancient Druids of Britain left almost no reliable evidence behind. Because of this, historian Ronald Hutton shows, succeeding British generations have been free to reimagine, reinterpret, and reinvent the Druids. Hutton's captivating book is the first to encompass two thousand years of Druid history and to explore the evolution of English, Scottish, and Welsh attitudes toward the forever ambiguous figures of the ancient Celtic world. Druids have been remembered at different times as patriots, scientists, philosophers, or priests; sometimes portrayed as corrupt, bloodthirsty, or ignorant, they were also seen as fomenters of rebellion. Hutton charts how the Druids have been written in and out of history, archaeology, and the public consciousness for some 500 years, with particular focus on the romantic period, when Druids completely dominated notions of British prehistory. Sparkling with legends and images, filled with new perspectives on ancient and modern times, this book is a fascinating cultural study of Druids as catalysts in British history. Similar books: The Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles by Ronald Hutton The Rise and Fall of Merry England by Ronald Hutton Witches, Druids and King Arthur by Ronald Hutton The Druids by Ronald Hutton The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis The Britons by Christopher A. Snyder The Druids by Stuart Piggott No god but God by Reza Aslan 1453 by Roger Crowley Caesar and Christ by Will Durant Servants of Allah by Sylviane A. Diouf The Wonder That Was India by A. L. Basham When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone by Gal Beckerman The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge Belonging by Simon Schama Magic in the Middle Ages by Richard Kieckhefer The Night Battles by Carlo Ginzburg A Religious History of the American People by S. E. Ahlstrom In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland