Examines the
origins of the Druids and the evidence for their beliefs and practices,
in particular asking what can and can`t be known about them
Explains how the nature of the Druid caste
changed quite dramatically over time
Considers current revivals of Druidism and
analyzes different attitudes towards them
Part of the bestselling Very Short
Introductions series - over three million copies sold worldwide
Who were the Druids? What do we know about them? Do
they still exist today?
The Druids first came into focus in
Western Europe - Gaul, Britain, and Ireland - in the second century BC.
They are a popular subject; they have been known and discussed for over
2,000 years and few figures flit so elusively through history. They are
enigmatic and puzzling, partly because of the lack of knowledge about
them has resulted in a wide spectrum of interpretations.
Barry
Cunliffe takes the reader through the evidence relating to the Druids,
trying to decide what can be said and what can`t be said about them. He
examines why the nature of the druid caste changed quite dramatically
over time, and how successive generations
have interpreted the phenomenon in very different ways.
