The history of the Celts is the history of a misnomer. There has never been a distinct people, race or tribe claiming the name of Celtic, though remnants of different languages and cultures remain throughout Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. The word keltoi first appears in Greek as applied generally to aliens or 'barbarians' - and theories of Celticism continue to fuel many of the prejudices and misconceptions that divide the peoples of the British Isles to this day. Often seen as unimportant or irrelevant adjuncts to English history, in The Celts Simon Jenkins offers a compelling counterargument. This is a fascinating and timely debate on who the Celts really were - or weren't - and what their legacy should be in an increasingly dis-United Kingdom.
Chapter 1. How Ancient Were the Britons?
Chapter 2. The Celtosceptic Dawn
Chapter 3. The East Side Story
Chapter 5. The Myth of the Saxons
Chapter 6. The Shaping of Western Britain
Chapter 7. Viking Intermission
Chapter 10. Agony of Roses and Thistles
Chapter 11. An Empire Under Strain
Chapter 12. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 13. Picking Up Pieces and Papering Over Cracks
Chapter 14. Towards a New Union
Chapter 15. A Kingdom Struggling to Unite
Chapter 16. A Scotland Transformed
Chapter 17. Do You Speak Celt?
Chapter 18. A Terrible Beauty is Born
Chapter 19. The Union Left Behind
Chapter 21. A Tale of Four Parliaments
Chapter 22. The Great Identity Hunt
Chapter 23. Independence Versus Federalism