The Pocket Guide series as a whole has proved to combine quality with popularity, a fact reflected in the frequent appearance of the various volumes on Welsh best-seller lists. Celtic Wales is no exception. Its varied layout, many illustrations and neat text boxes for subjects calling for extra clarification are visually satisfying, and the standard of information it contains extremely high - as you would expect from two experts in the field. The timespan covered is that from the Iron Age to the early Middle Ages.There is an interesting preliminary discussion of modern attitudes to the concept of 'celticity', which range from those who feel the term 'Celt' ought to be abandoned altogether to those who feel it is central to European prehistory. The authors position themselves somewhere in the middle of this spectrum - recognising the dangers of using one label to describe a number of diverse cultures, but at the same time finding it impossible 'to ignore or deny the existence of recurrent idiosyncrasies of material culture that present themselves over huge areas of temperate Iron Age Europe'.However scholars choose to define (or abstain from defining) the term 'Celtic', the general reader is likely to associate it not only with a group of languages, and a material culture, but above all with a set of ancient religious beliefs. From that point of view Celtic Wales is perhaps a slightly misleading title, since the book deals with all aspects of the history of early Wales, in particular with the four hundred years of Roman occupation.
The advantage, though, of having sections on indigenous religious customs, literature and mythology alternate with more archaeologically and Classically orientated chapters lies in the way it points up differences and similarities between indigenous and Roman culture. All in all, Celtic Wales is a valuable guide to many specific sites while at the same time summarizing the latest findings and opinions of experts in the field of Celtic studies. No pocket-sized book could do more.Helle MichelsenIt is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com , with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.
com , trwy ganiat'd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.