The book is fairly comprehensive, commenting on the many sub-groups of the peoples contained in the word "Celtic". But herein lies the biggest flaw, in my opinion. It is all very well to recognize the Gauls, Galatians, Welsh, and Picts as Celtic, but there are differences in these groups that may have been overlooked too casualy in Chadwick's work. I've learned all too well, in the process of my own studies, that we cannot correctly assess certain characteristics as generally Celtic, nor can we judge one sub-group of the Celts by another. To do so is simply incorrect. We may make educated assumptions about the social structure of the Britons based on, for example, recorded i nformation from from Gaul, but this will not neccisarily be true. We can't assume that all Celts fought in mortal combat at feasts because Posedonius tells us that is a practice of the Gauls. And I think that this type of assessment is too common in Chadwick's work. Nevertheless, because I'm capable of picking instances like these out, for the most part, I wasn't hampered by the work.

Anothe criticism of this book is that it is fairly unorganized. One paragraph may be talking about the Dalriadic Scots and next about the Welsh under Roman rule. In this sense, I wasn't able to use the book much for quick references, and I found myself knee-deep in only somewhat relevent information when looking for specific information.

My last criticism of The Celts is the near total lack of citations and explanitory footnotes. I'm not fond of taking information on the author's word alone. Although, I suppose this is a fualt rather in the dating of the book, typical of other works put out in the same age. That does not excuse the many times I came to be asking myself about the source of the information Chadwick had given.

Despite my criticisms I did find the book enjoyable, easy to read, and helpful. It is more the type of book I'd pick up to read to brush up, rather than the type of book I'd pick up for reference or for details on a specific subject. The most thourough and well explained chapter in the book seems to be "The Celts in Europe". The intro by Barry Cunliff was also a nice addition.


A good introduction, but a bit dated   May 18, 2001
 30 out of 41 found this review helpful

Nora Chadwick is probably cited by every book on the Celts published since 1970. A lot of work has been done since then in archaeology and linguistics. Chadwick's view of the Celts is therefore a bit dated. She doesn't even examine Celtic architecture and technology in very great detail. It is now generally accepted that the Celts had a profound impact upon Roman technology and culture. The Romans didn't simply evict the Celts, but rather absorbed entire populations in Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Each absorption brought something new to the mixture. Each absorption drained the rich world of Celtic development of further resources. And current research shows that Chadwick's treatment of the Romans in the British isles is quite inadequate.

This book is best considered as an introduction to the profound reconsiderations of Celtic history and prehistory which the late 20th century produced. Modern scholarship often attempts to extend Chadwick's work, but sometimes invalidates it. Her book was profound and evocative in its day, but it is now little more than a testimonial to the state of Celtic research a generation ago.