The Druids

I could do this review in one word... FANTASTIC! This is a great read from a really interesting perspective. In the last year or so I have read about 7 different authors take on Druidry and about 4 more on Celtic history and I was expecting the same from this book. Instead Hutton takes on broad general concepts of druids, both ancient and modern, and covers each one in detail from the Greek and Roman writers up through to modern times. This book focuses almost exclusively on British Druidry and in the modern sense the British Revivalist Druids like OBOD and The Universal Bond but Hutton's sense of style and obvious knowledge of this subject makes this an easy to follow and enjoyable read. I feel I have a much, much better understanding now of the modern neo-Druid movement and a much clearer understanding of its beginnings and the characters involved. There is also a fairness to Hutton's explanation and an unflinching honesty about the dishonesty of the some of Druidry's more interesting characters. I highly suggest this book to anyone with even a passing interest in Revival Druidry (which after all even the RDNA and therefore ADF can count as forebears), whether that person is a hard core scholar or just curious about the past this book is one of those rare finds that will appeal to all.

Ronald Hutton has published a string of fine works exposing fallacies we've held concerning ancient religions and mysticisms. This volume, the first of a pair on the Druids, is one of the most devastating to prejudiced thinking. At the outset, Hutton reminds us that what we know of the Druids was produced by their enemies. Julius Caesar, likely the most famous of those, declared them the leaders of Gaul's resistance to imperial Roman invasion. Through the years, archaeologists, historians and others have attempted to form a picture of who the Druids actually were. These efforts have produced notable failures, and Hutton has taken a different tack with this book. Instead, in a carefully researched and comprehensive study, he reviews how the Druids have fared at the hands of those wishing to use their myth to create new ones. In this finely crafted study, the author subdivides the Druid myth into themes that have been used to characterise them over the past few centuries. There are the "Patriotic" and "Rebel" Druids, "Green" ones, while others are "Wise" or "Demonic". Each of these portrayals has been forwarded by scholars, poets, social commentators, and not a few charlatans. "Patriotic" Druids have been adopted by various writers to convey the notion that Druid rebellion against the Romans was a model for others rejecting imperial incursion, in Britain, notably against attempts by the Roman Church to overwhelm Anglican Protestantism. "Rebel" Druids, Hutton considers a modern phenomenon, a form of 20th Century counter-culture - "hippies with a cause". The extensive chapter on the "Wise" Druids, on the other hand, covers a range of views. Druids as teachers, religious leaders and intense observers of Nature granted their image great influence. According to a given writer's agenda, however, this might be seen as either positive or negative. The collection and imparting of knowledge can either contribute to a society, or rend it through challenges to accepted dogmas. Druids who claimed to understand the cosmos better than Christian priests would be viewed as "heathen". Over the course of the 18th and 19th Centuries in the British Isles, interest in the Druids waned, then waxed. As the threat of domination by the Roman Church evaporated, Druids as leaders of guerilla forces protecting British society faded. As the British Empire began its expansion, however, segments of the United Kingdom found the Druids an inspiration for giving their heritage a sounder foundation. Wales, in particular, used the Druids as the basis for its bardic tradition. One "researcher" went so far as to fabricate an extensive collection of Welsh poetry, a massive invention that went undetected for many years. The Welsh weren't alone in inventing roles for the Druids - the Scots, Germans, Irish and, of course, the British all exhibited high levels of creative skill in using the Druids for their own ends. Because Hutton intends this book for the genera

This book by a noted historian takes a look at Druids as they have been conceived of in modern times, and provides arguments for or against these conceptions. I found this book to be an incredible resource for adding to my knowledge about Druids. And, it is written in an enjoyable and often funny style. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the Druids.

Do you think you know what the Druids were all about? Hutton's book will make you think again. It's not so much an account of the ancient Druids as a much-needed examination of how the Druids have been viewed in more recent times.