Druids: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions is the best collection!! Please, we definitely need more from this series!!

Druids have fascinated popular imagination for over two thousand years. In recent years, they have enjoyed revived interest due largely to the emergence of various New Age and earth-based spiritual and religious movements. And yet, despite all the fascination with them, we still don't know much about who they were and what sorts of beliefs and practices they were involved in. This is primarily due to the fact that the pagan societies within which Druids operated did not leave any written records. Hence, all that we know about Druids stems from the physical archeological evidence they left behind, and the writings of outsiders.

This very short introduction tries to shed more light on Druids for the modern reader. It presents a fascinating history of the ancient world within which Druids operated. It shatters a few myths about Druids and reconfirms some other long held beliefs. In particular, even though it is unclear whether Druids themselves conducted human sacrifices, it is fairly well established that those were common in ancient pagan societies and that Druids at the very least condoned them. The book also gives a nice overview of the revival of the interest in Druids that started with the European romanticism roughly in the nineteenth century. Most of our images of Druids can actually be traced to that period, and it is amusing to note that many of the purportedly Druidic practices that some neopagan groups engage in were actually invented in this period.

I found this to be a very good read/listen. It delivered what it promised: a well written general overview that differentiated between evidence-based information and myth/lore.

I teach art history and just stumbled on this little gem. Well written and interesting

This is a very well put together book.

Yes, it is short, but the author makes a good job of explaining who the Druids were and what their place is in history was. Be prepared to enlightened, frightened and entertained as this book take you on a journey that is both informative and entertaining.

Well done!

I highly recommend this book as an overview of some of the most mysterious people, in history.

Provided an in-depth review of Druid history

The connection to Stone-Henge.

No.

N/A.

A great introduction to Druid history for a neophyte.