Blood & Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain
£1.90
The acclaimed author of Witches, Druids, and King Arthur presents a “lucid, open-minded” cultural history of the Druids as part of British identity (Terry Jones).
Crushed by the Romans in the first century A.D., the ancient Druids of Britain left almost no reliable evidence behind. Historian Ronald Hutton shows how this lack of definite information has allowed succeeding British generations 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 fascinating cultural study reveals Druids as catalysts in British history.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Yale University Press (26 May 2009) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1396 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 923 pages |
by JaspMasqueline
Due to a copyright issue, the Kindle edition is not illustrated, and refers the reader to the print edition. Hutton’s text is as lively and interesting as usual, but this is a disappointment. At the time of writing the copyright notice in the sample text is the only place to note this (it isn’t noted amongst the “read more” section).
by Frank K.
Excellent: thorough, authoritative & highly readable by leading expert in the field. Buy it!
by Bruno Toxwenius
All went fine and fast, as I expected
by Infinity Drive
Of course as all the reviews state this is scholarly and indepth look at the development of Druidry in Britain.
However, as with Huttons other books I can never figure out if he is a) trying to support Neo-Paganism, b) Debunk it all as fabricated lies c) provide an objective historical or sociological study. If it is c) I clearly see in some aspects the authors own opinions come into the study making it somewhat skewed and biased. In the same manner as ‘Triumph of the Moon’ he makes clear his own personal opinion on certain personalities and orders and therefore *not totally objective* So is at an academic study, popular literature or an incoherent mis-mash of both ? Does it support the Neopagan movement ?
The book starts with a reasonably good chapter on the source material for Druidry in particularly a very well researched and accurate look at Irish Druidry. The main bulk of the book then focusses upon various Druid Orders between 17th century upto about the formation of obod and a little beyond. No comment on modern Druid developments in the last 20 years or so. Personally, I found the middle section chapters which form the bulk of the book to be wranglings about middle class pseudo masonic personalities (mostly male) and orders to be very boring indeed. We have a whole gaggle of Hermetic Druids, Masonic style orders and the like etc. In fact this book is more a study on what Isaac Bonewits termed ‘Meso-Paganism’ from the 17th century revival upto Neo-Paganism.
Still if you are a Druid buff and want to get into these things its a very good study (of course, just read the other reviews !!). Its just that I found the title to be misleading… it is not ‘ancient history’ nor ‘neo-pagan’ history. I would have like more history on the developments in the last 20-30 years.
by Ribble
Yes, this is a very long book indeed, but I found it completely enthralling and couldn’t stop reading it, even on an iPhone while on a short break. Hutton combines meticulous research and thorough analysis with great generosity and a sly, dry wit. The Druids may seem a marginal, esoteric subject, but as Hutton writes, he could have called the book ‘Thinking with Druids’, and the subject lets him consider, in a wholly undogmatic and unforced way, how ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’ can spread and persist in common thought and culture, and how even the most rigorous academics (and he would include himself) can’t escape the influence of their prejudices, education and context. Along the way he introduces the reader to marvellous cast of characters: innocent, passionate, unscrupulous, and downright fraudulent. I can’t recommend this book too highly.
by Charlotte
I am a big fan of Ronald Hutton anyway; but this was bought for my moms husband – a practising druid (of many years) who thought the book was great
by Ca Stuart
This book was wanted by a relative as a present. He has now got a present
by Stephanie
I love this book, because my husband loves it (whom I bought it for!). It was over a year ago now that he got it, but he has referred back to it many times since reading it in full. There is generally little information available on Druids at all, and this book manages to draw together such a vast array of information, from all sorts of valid sources, so as to compile this extensive and beautiful book with its literary treasures within – a great read, and full of fascinating facts as conversation pieces.