Gerhard Herm’s book was published in 1977, yet has gone through subsequent illustrated editions. A journalist/Filmmaker, Herm also produced documentaries on Mediterranean civilizations for German television. In this volume, the author traces the expansion of Indo-European Celtic culture, language and customs, from references to them in the ancient classical world, to today’s Gaelic–speaking inhabitants of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and Wales.
Herm provides nine pages of chronology, which link to his sixteen chapters, yet these are not written in strict chronological order. In each, maps illustrate the movement of peoples. He first entices us with lively chapters about references to Celts by writers in the ancient world― Herodotus, Diodorus, Polybius, Posidonius, Livy, Ptolemy―which might be more familiar to readers than names in his later research. Livy relates the capture of Rome by Brennus, in 387 BC, and the subsequent fear of Celts by Romans. Chapter 5, “It began on the Volga,” reverts to 3000 BC and helps clarify the label “Caucasian” in this review’s heading. Not being an archaeologist working one location, Herms could travel to major sites that had been identified as proto-Indo-European, and learned of then-Soviet archaeologist Vadim Masson. Masson agreed that, by 1500 BC, people living in the Caucasus area were ancestors of the Greeks, Romans, Germans and Celts. Migrating to the west, over a period of a thousand years, their settlements dotted present-day Europe. Chapter 6, “The Birth of Celtic Europe,” explains the remains of dwellings, burial sites, pottery and metal work excavated at a number of sites. This well-prepared occupation by the newcomers absorbed local peoples, so that, by 500BC, it is possible to speak of continental “Celts’ united by a common language and culture. Following a chapter on Deities and Druids, Herms describes the coming of Julius Caesar, in 58BC. Readers who studied Latin will recall his “Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,” in which Caesar details his eight-year campaign to subdue Celtic tribes and make Gaul a Roman province.
Further questions about my own ancestors were prompted by Alex Haley’s 1977 TV mini-series, “Roots.” Being Swiss (i.e. Helvetian, a Celtic tribe that Caesar blames for starting the war!), prompted research into the 1st century BC. This resulted in my two historical fiction novels about the period, “Alberix the Celt, Books 1 and 2.”
Herm’s four closing chapters continue the Romanization of Europe, show an overview of Ireland with its missionary saints, and ends at the “Celtic Court of King Arthur―all in all, enjoyable and highly informative reading. Incidentally, the term “Caucasian race” was coined by a German philosopher, in 1785!
Albert Noyer / The Getorius and Arcadia Mysteries.
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Reviews with images
Good Intro Even if Dated
Good, crisp history. Primarily told through the lens of Roman-Celtic clashes but I thought its focus on the Celts as a relatively integrated, fluid and internally-prosperous socio-cultural group was interesting. It's 'Celtic-centric' so to speak, despite what Herm has to go off of. Had some snippets on the Gundestrup cauldron and a bit on the Celtic religion/mythologies and the role of druids, although not as much as I would have liked.Herm briefly shows how the Celtic world changed from its origins in the Hallstatt region, their cultural consolidation and flourishing during the La Tene period, the marches of Caesar and the resistance of Vercingetorix as well as Christianities eventual triumph. His contention of Ireland as a "fly in the amber" regarding Celtic culture, its adoption and blending of Celtic and Christian elements and the connection of Ireland to the foundation of some of the earliest Churches in former Celtic territory was particularly interesting to me. Good to read as an intro book before something more recent or specialized.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2015
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2022
Herm briefly shows how the Celtic world changed from its origins in the Hallstatt region, their cultural consolidation and flourishing during the La Tene period, the marches of Caesar and the resistance of Vercingetorix as well as Christianities eventual triumph. His contention of Ireland as a "fly in the amber" regarding Celtic culture, its adoption and blending of Celtic and Christian elements and the connection of Ireland to the foundation of some of the earliest Churches in former Celtic territory was particularly interesting to me. Good to read as an intro book before something more recent or specialized.
Good Intro Even if Dated
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2022
Good, crisp history. Primarily told through the lens of Roman-Celtic clashes but I thought its focus on the Celts as a relatively integrated, fluid and internally-prosperous socio-cultural group was interesting. It's 'Celtic-centric' so to speak, despite what Herm has to go off of. Had some snippets on the Gundestrup cauldron and a bit on the Celtic religion/mythologies and the role of druids, although not as much as I would have liked.Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2022
Herm briefly shows how the Celtic world changed from its origins in the Hallstatt region, their cultural consolidation and flourishing during the La Tene period, the marches of Caesar and the resistance of Vercingetorix as well as Christianities eventual triumph. His contention of Ireland as a "fly in the amber" regarding Celtic culture, its adoption and blending of Celtic and Christian elements and the connection of Ireland to the foundation of some of the earliest Churches in former Celtic territory was particularly interesting to me. Good to read as an intro book before something more recent or specialized.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2008
