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The Celtic World
- Narrated by: Professor Jennifer Paxton PhD
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Following the surge of interest and pride in Celtic identity since the 19th century, much of what we thought we knew about the Celts has been radically transformed. From the warriors who nearly defeated Julius Caesar to druids who, contrary to popular opinion, definitely did not worship at Stonehenge, get to know the real Celts.
In The Celtic World, discover the incredible story of the Celtic-speaking peoples, whose art, language, and culture once spread from Ireland to Austria. This series of 24 enlightening lectures explains the traditional historical view of who the Celts were, then contrasts it with brand-new evidence from DNA analysis and archeology that totally changes our perspective on where the Celts came from. European history and culture have been profoundly affected by the Celts, from the myth of King Arthur to the very map of the United Kingdom, where the English confronted the peoples of the "Celtic Fringe."
With a wealth of historical expertise, Professor Jennifer Paxton (PhD Harvard University), Director of the University Honors Program and Clinical Assistant Professor of History at The Catholic University of America, guides you through each topic related to Celtic history with approachability and ease as you unearth what we once thought it meant - and what it may actually mean - to be Celtic. Professor Paxton's engaging, often humorous delivery blends perfectly with the facts about the Celts to uncover surprising historical revelations. The ancient Celts are very much alive in the literary and artistic traditions that their descendants have both preserved and very deliberately revived. All facets of Celtic life, past and present, are addressed by Professor Paxton, who demonstrates a masterful knowledge and carefully separates fact from myth at every turn. Come along for a ride through history to discover your inner Celt.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about The Celtic World
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Marc
- 07-29-18
Focuses on what the lecturer is interested in
Giving the "story" only 2 stars here feels unfair - yet, I am trying to judge the overall impression I am left with after finishing the course. What the lecturer tells about is interesting and for the major part of it coherent. What irritates me is the VASTNESS of what she leaves out.
The course starts out with a very short hint at "the" Celtic realm not yet being well defined in geography, linguistics, ethnics or time. From almost the Arab "frontiers" over Spain, the (sorry:) English group of islands to France, Northern Germany and parts of Scandinavia "they" roamed, yet the lecturer exclusively focuses on what she is interested in: Everything King Arthur (which, of course, is unfair again - it's just clear that this is the topic she loves, so it takes up quite some space). I find it unfortunate to only hear about Ireland, Scotland, Wales over and over again - those Celtic heritages have been covered so often in such detail that I often thought "yes, heard that before, tell me something NEW".
What I would have LOVED to hear was more about that Spanish enclave. Where the Celtic (speaking) people moved (on the continent) and why. What interaction with (not-British-Island-related) peoples they had. What their mythological, political, sociological history was. In short: DETAILS, not the broad overview you can find everywhere in books, TV documentaries or the interweb.
On another point, I found it irritating that the lecturer kept contradicting herself. There have been quite a lot of - often small - points where I went "huh? Didn't she say something else just the other lecture?" A trivial example might be: She explains that the common belief is OUTDATED that "The Celtic" had been a Central-European "movement" that spread out and could be described as a homogenous area that was well defined and that you could reliably define an "area of origin". In the next lecture(s) she then says "let's now concentrate on the area that the Celtic originated from or that they lived in", basically saying the exact opposite of what she proposed before.
She seems to dislike Archeology - the chapter on "what is usable historical research" seems to dismiss the whole approach of "digging up dirt and basing assumptions on your findings" as nonsense. I am exaggerating here. Yet, over the following lectures, she often uses EXACTLY that "digging up dirt" as a PROOF of her theories ("this has been confirmed by archeological findings"), which sounds strange, after she put Linguistic and text-evidence based research over Archeology.
In short: Content-wise this is mainly, if not almost only, about the Ireland/Scotland/Wales part of Celtic history, a good part of the lectures is spent on English history (independent from its relevance to the topic "Celtic World"). You do NOT get an impression of what the lecturer calls the modern view of where and when the Celtic peoples lived but are limited to somewhat stereotype England-centric History lessons. At this, the course is quite good, well presented and captivating. Just don't expect too much "new".
(Technical note: Again, the audio quality, although mostly good, lacks professional editing. Often the sound "fades" when the lecturer seems to move her head to one side, not talking towards the microphone consistently. A simple pre-fetching EQ pass and moderate compression would have helped. It's OK if you listen through headphones on in quiet surroundings, but less so in distractive environment.)
122 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 06-20-18
I wish this had a different title
I wish this had a different title, maybe "The History of Ireland and Friends". Professor Paxton clearly cares about the subject and reads very clearly, but I had to speed it up a little. The content was good, but not what I was looking for. Based on the title, I was hoping for more immersive daily life as a Celt. I have been to several Celtic historical sites and museums in Austria, but Hallstatt culture is only briefly discussed here. If you want the history of Irish kings and and a comparison of movies with real life, this may be for you. If you want to know more about living in the iron age, skip it. There is little about what regular people ate, wore or did with their typical day. I definitely appreciate the included, illustrated .PDF. Overall, this was okay but I preferred the much more comprehensive book, A Brief History of the Celts, by Peter Berresford Ellis.
202 people found this helpful
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- Rooftop
- 07-19-18
Poorly Structured, mediocre performance.
The Subject is of course interesting, but this course cannot decide if it is for neophytes or experts. IT is overly broad in some places, and in other places it spends time refuting obscure scholarly points of view. In the end is wastes a lot of time, and becomes a scant overview. It would do better to decide who this is for, and choose a narrower version of this topic.
Structure is also an issue. Dr Paxton, has a verbal tick, where she points out the overall structure of her lecture, over, and over, and over. I began to twitch every time I heard her refection one subject, and then spend time explaining when she would talk about it. We get its a lecture. If you reference something, we assume you're going to talk about it. You dont need to tell me when.
Anyways, I wouldnt recommend this lecture. Overly long, both too specific and non specific, and wastefully structured.
17 people found this helpful
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- Ric Peralta
- 06-09-18
Incredibly informative and entertaining
I am part Scottish and have long been fascinated by the complexities of the ancient Celtic world, as well as the remnants of this ancient culture in the modern British Isles.
This Great Course Lecture series was incredibly illuminating. Beautifully treated by the professor, I can't recommend this enough if you have even a passing interest in the history of the British Isles and/or Celtic/Gaelic culture.
24 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-20-18
First half is dull and pedantic
Prof made potentially interesting info boring in an attempt to impress us how scholarly and academic she is. The last third was interesting when she dropped the pedantic attitude and had fun with the material. I bought the course because I was interested in the early origins and theories regarding Celts.
20 people found this helpful
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- John
- 07-11-20
Poor history
As an Historian, I am shocked and appalled that this was allowed to be a Great Courses audiobook. Poorly researched, with many controversial findings presented as full fact. Shame on Dr. Paxton.
9 people found this helpful
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- Marshall
- 05-08-20
We don't know . . . but it's true
In summary, hi I'm professor Jennifer Paxton and I love Celts. You should love them too.
We know (really want to believe) that the ancient Gauls and others that the Romans defeated were Celts. We don't know how or why they are linked together because there are non of the usual connections betweentheir societies. . . but they are deeply connected.
We don't know why they migrated all over for no apparent reason but they did, and we don't know how they got to Ireland and Britain but they did. We aren't even sure if Irish Celts are related to those other Celts, but the must be because Celts. we don't know more than we do know, cause they didn't write, but we really need to connect all of these people groups through time and space because we need a Celt background/origin story regardless of how forced it seems.
Let me dash the image you have of a typical Celt and druid, cause most of it is wrong. I need to do this because I am a professor.
You should join the Celtic fan club as soon as possible because true Celticness is dying dying, like the wicked witch of the west.
7 people found this helpful
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- Jolene
- 06-17-18
It's Celtic
In my most honest assessment, I would have given this course 3 1/2 stars overall if it was possible to do so. Paxton appears to be very knowledgeable on the subject matter, but does meander at times through the material, which can be somewhat distracting for the listener. For those interested in the ancient Celts, particularly those wishing to know more about the regions of Gaul, N. Italy, Switzerland, Germany and even Galatia, this is not the class for you. While it does briefly discuss Caesar's conquest and related topics- these issues remain very underdeveloped. This course focuses on Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and Cornwall, with a fair amount of discussion about Galicia (Spain), all of which is interesting, but rather focused on those regions.
63 people found this helpful
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- kyle martin
- 09-11-18
Holy linguistics, Batman!
This course is much less about the “Celtic World,” than it is about tracing the linguistic history of Celtic-speaking people. I love mythology, history, and archeological studies... but I found this course somewhat lacking. No tails of Cuchulain, the Mabinogion, or many other significant cultural historical references. Must say, disappointed.
44 people found this helpful
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- Valerie
- 07-18-18
Great course if you are Scots-Irish
Intense study of the Celtic world. I wish I would have had maps and family trees to follow along. I listened while working and driving otherwise I would have done research on the computer to better follow the places and timeline. Lots of myths debunked, and I better understand where my family came from and why my DNA tests came out as they did.
5 people found this helpful
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- J. Watts
- 09-01-18
One of the best Great Courses!
Not only does Prof Paxton really know her stuff but you can tell she clearly loves it too. Her enthusiasm and knowledge comes through in every lecture. The history of the Celts is fascinating and there are even some twists and turns along the way. Like did they even properly exist? How did they really get to Ireland and the rest of the British Isles? Fab course.
9 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 05-02-19
Enlightening and Engaging
Almost every part of this book has come as an eye-opening revelation to me, a Welshman, who knew so little of Celtic history and culture. It is like someone has gifted me with a part of myself I didn't realise was missing.
Most popular history in the UK in my experience tends towards an anglo-centric narrative, so to explore the history of Celtic nations is a welcome change.
Prof Paxton clearly enjoys her subject and that enthusiasm shines through. She has a nice balance of topics which are easily accessible and fascinating. Her explanation of technical aspects of languages was clear and easily understood.
7 people found this helpful
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- M.Martin
- 08-21-19
Really enjoyed this offbeat topic
I wanted to find something interesting, but without drama as I just wanted it on as background noise while I worked. It was a great course and I learnt a lot. Who knew the celts were in Turkey??!? Jennifer's narration was captivating and not boring to listen to. Lets hope she makes some more courses soon as I would be happy to purchase :)
5 people found this helpful
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- Neill House
- 12-06-18
Very good
The book itself was a nice beginner to the subject, and covered all the bases, including the errors.
5 people found this helpful
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- Lea
- 08-19-18
learning
this has been a brilliant book and i recommended it to all who will give it a go
5 people found this helpful
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- Iain S. Palin
- 12-26-18
An excellent (and up-to-date) overview
This is an excellent course, covering the history and cultures of the "Celtic world" from earliest times to the almost-present. While sympathetic in its approach, and showing the deep knowledge of the presenter, it also debunks a lot of the pop-history mythology about who the Celts were, where they came from, even whether there really were those invasions by waves of culturally homogeneous tribesmen. If it does dispose of some cherished notions, it replaces them with scenarios that are just as fascinating. I highly recommend this course to those interested in history and especially in learning about why some parts of these islands are the way they are.
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 03-09-20
excellent
Excellent course, so glad I gave it a chance despite the mixed reviews. Pronunciation of place names/Celtic words isn't perfect but highly informative and clearly well-researched. Very broad overview of celtic culture from Asia minor to the Western Isles. The lecture format makes it easy to navigate. Would highly recommend to anyone interested in celtic history.
3 people found this helpful
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- Marwan
- 07-03-19
Very good reaf
very well structured and organized easy to understand and to follow the complicated and tangled history of the Celtic world.
3 people found this helpful
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- Frank
- 03-18-19
Standing ovation deserved
Fantastic series of lectures given by an outstanding professor who takes you into The Celtic World
3 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-27-19
Thoroughly enjoyable
This is a well presented and informative course. I really enjoyed it. I would highly recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
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- Robin Grille, psychologist, author
- 05-17-18
Delightful and enlightening
I loved every minute of these series. In particular I appreciate the Writer’s staunch refusal to give in to the common tendency to romanticize the Celtic world, thus proving that you can be grounded and realistic and non-grandiose while deeply enthusiastic at the same time. I feel all the more privileged for having enjoyed this level-headed yet thoroughly fun education about Celtic culture(s).
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 10-15-20
Celtic history culture language enjoyably explored
This audiobook kind of jumps around between history, language and culture. The central theme is the question of what "Celtic" means. Enjoyable, interesting to listen to.
1 person found this helpful
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- L Brownrigg
- 10-09-20
Very broad in scope
Covers Bronze Age continental Celts right through to modern insular Celtic Fringe societies and politics.
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- JL Wood
- 04-06-19
learn about the celts and where they come from
a very enjoyable journey through the centuries spanning the development of the celtic peoples of the world. most interesting to hear about their arts, language and culture. i am proud to be a descendant of this complex society.
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-14-18
worthwhile
an interesting and thorough look at the celtic world in the past and present. would recommend