Druids, Barry Cunliffe
Druids, Barry Cunliffe
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Druids
A Very Short Introduction

Author: Barry Cunliffe

Narrator: Donald Corren

Unabridged: 4 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/22/2021


Synopsis

The Druids have been known and discussed for at least 2400 years, first by Greek writers and later by the Romans, who came in contact with them in Gaul and Britain. According to these sources, they were a learned caste who officiated in religious ceremonies, taught the ancient wisdoms, and were revered as philosophers. But few figures flit so elusively through history, and the Druids remain enigmatic and puzzling to this day.

In this Very Short Introduction, one of the leading authorities on British archaeology, Barry Cunliffe, takes the listener on a fast-paced look at the ever-fascinating story of the Druids, as seen in the context of the times and places in which they practiced. Sifting through the evidence, Cunliffe offers an expert's best guess as to what can be said and what can't be said about the Druids, discussing the origins of the Druids and the evidence for their beliefs and practices, why the nature of the druid caste changed quite dramatically over time, and how successive generations have seen them in very different ways.

About Barry Cunliffe

Barry Cunliffe taught archaeology at the Universities of Bristol and Southampton and was professor of European archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2008, thereafter becoming Emeritus Professor. He has excavated widely in Britain (Fishbourne, Bath, Danebury, Hengistbury Head, Brading) and in the Channel Islands, Brittany, and Spain, and has been president of the Council for British Archaeology and of the Society of Antiquaries, Governor of the Museum of London, a Commissioner of English Heritage, and a Trustee of the British Museum. His many books include Facing the Ocean, Druids: A Very Short Introduction, Britain Begins, By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean, and On the Ocean, all published by Oxford University Press. He received a knighthood in 2006.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nandakishore on April 04, 2017

I think the first time I heard about the druids was when I first encountered the Stonehenge in one of the Reader's Digest books. As is usual with Reader's Digest, the article was filled with all kinds of pseudo-scientific balderdash that is the trademark of that group of publications: but my gullible......more

Goodreads review by NAT.orious reads ☾ on February 28, 2020

2.5 STARS ★★✬✩✩, still searching for druids This book is…not for those who want to know stuff about ‘druids’. ⤐ Overall. Even for a VSI, what we know about ‘druids’ is little to nothing. Barry sure had a hard time filling these pages. Little spoiler alert; the modern societies that carry the......more

Druids – a very short review. My fantasy met reality in Cunliffe’s book. I’ve been to Stonehenge and other places where lines of force and circles of power were constructed. I’ve read stories and some “scholarly” articles that have extolled the druids as defenders of the Earth and wise in the ways o......more

Goodreads review by Sonic on January 17, 2020

This author killed my interest by page 92. I do not know if I am able to finish this dry, boring book. The author might have killed my wish to finish this book, and possibly my interest in Druids altogether. Obviously scholarly, he spends so much time droning on about what we do not and cannot know......more

Goodreads review by Samantha on October 31, 2011

Cunliffe takes an interesting approach to the vast and complex history of Druidism. He attempts to separate fact from fiction and succeeds quite well, unfolding the traditions and myths with discussion of history, geographical changes, technological advances, and more. His contextual understanding o......more