Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story

Description

New discoveries in genetics have overturned the dogma of decades about the Celts. Today Celtic languages cling to life on the northwestern fringes of Europe. In the pre-Roman past Celtic was spoken across the continent and the heritage of the Celts turns up from Portugal to Romania, from Scotland to Spain. Earlier attempts to trace historical and prehistoric movements using only modern DNA from living people have been proved dramatically wrong by findings from ancient DNA. Debate continues about who were the Celts, where 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 in an accessible and illuminating way.

Jean Manco is the author of numerous books and articles, including The Spirit of Care: the eight-hundred year history of St John's Hospital, Bath.

'A fresh and challenging look at the story of the Celts' - Family Tree '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 'Clearly written ... well researched' - Folklore '[Manco's] books read like the work of a dynamic and talented young researcher, energised by the discoveries of genetics and their potential for casting light on history' - David Miles, Minerva