... The book covers religion from circa 30,000 BC up to circa AD 1000. The book was originally published in 1991, but has been reprinted, the one I read printed in 2001. It contains 397 pages and costs £18.99.
It starts off with a preface written by the author telling about the purpose of the ... Read review
Surveys religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Old Stone Age to the coming of ... more
Christianity, drawing upon new data, much of it archaeological. Hutton suggests that the pagans of ancient Britain were far more creative, complex, enigmatic and dynamic than has previously been supposed.
...history course work about how the Celtic religion of Britain changed after the Roman invasion of AD 43. I had herd of Ronald Hutton before but had never read any of his books (this being his fifth). The book covers religion from circa 30,000 BC up to circa AD 1000. The book was originally published in 1991, but has been reprinted, the one I read printed in 2001. It contains 397 pages and costs £18.99.
It starts off with a preface written ... ...information is being discovered all the time and therefore some parts of his book may be wrong due to information discovered after printing. Hutton's own sketches are used throughout the book, and again in the preface he acknowledges that some are printed out of scale, which he also adds is a common mistake among authors. After the original preface is a preface for the paperback edition which attributes the new information found and his agreements ... more
I first came about this book while doing research for my history course work about how the Celtic religion of Britain changed after the Roman invasion of AD 43. I had herd of Ronald Hutton before but had never read any of his books (this being his fifth). The book covers religion from circa 30,000 BC up to circa AD 1000. The book was originally published in 1991, but has been reprinted, the one I read printed in 2001. It contains 397 pages and costs £18.99.
It starts off with a preface written by the author telling about the purpose of the book, and that as he is covering such a large time span, some areas may be have been left out or written about in less detail. He also points out that new information is being discovered all the time and therefore some parts of his book may be wrong due to information discovered after printing. Hutton's own sketches are used throughout the book, and again in the preface he acknowledges that some are printed out of scale, which he also adds is a common mistake among authors. After the original preface is a preface for the paperback edition which attributes the new information found and his agreements or disagreements with new books written. In acknowledgements he mentions the people whom helped with their expertise in certain areas of the book to make corrections to information. A good part of this book comes next, a guide of how to pronounce some of the Celtic words and names used in the book, 76 in total. This is very helpful as the Celtic words, if you try to pronounce how they're spelt sound nothing like how they should.
The first chapter is the Stone Ages, Old stone Age (Palaeolithic) to the New Stone Age (Neolithic). As throughout the book he introduces each chapter setting them into their context. He sets out what is to be used to identify religion and beliefs, the word 'beliefs' is used as beliefs do not always constitute a religion, for the chapters then uses examples and makes assertions based upon the evidence he uses. Much of this evidence is archaeological.
As all good history books should do, he mentions other historians who specialise in the different periods and their own arguments. A good example from the book is how much Roman religion was inflicted upon Britain. Four historians are used Miranda Green and Graham Webster who say only a small amount was taken on compared with Martin Henig and Joan Alcock who say that Britain became totally Romanized.
Comments are made on the difficulties of interpreting the evidence and if there is evidence that could point to two different theories both are discussed equally.
THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Mysteries Begin (c. 30000-c. 5000 BC)-. 2 The Time of the Tombs (c. 5000-c. 3200 BC) 3. The Coming Of Circles (c.3200- c. 2200 BC) 4. Into the Dark (c.2200-c. 1000 BC) 5. The People of The Mist (c.1000-c. AD 500) 6. The Imperial Synthesis (AD 43 - 410) Roman Religion in Britain 7. The Clash of Faiths (AD c.300-c.1000) Christianity versus the Roman Pantheon. 8. Legacy of Shadows Notes - This section contains the books, authors and page numbers of all the books used in compiling research his research for this book. This with the mention of other historians in the book is excellent for research as it enables you find and locate books that are likely to be of use to you. This is highly informative and a must for anyone who wants to find out about the religion of Britain before Christianity.
paul110 05.07.2002
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Review of The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles - Ronald Hutton
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