Saxons, Vikings, and Celts

The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland

By: Bryan Sykes

Narrated by: Dick Hill

WASPs finally get their due in this stimulating history by one of the world's leading geneticists. Saxons, Vikings, and Celts is the most illuminating book yet to be written about the genetic history of Britain and Ireland.

Through a systematic, 10-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, Bryan Sykes has traced the true genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants. This historical travelogue and genetic tour of the fabled isles, which includes accounts of the Roman invasions and Norman conquests, takes listeners from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales, where a 300,000-year-old tooth was discovered, to the resting place of "The Red Lady" of Paviland, whose anatomically modern body was dyed with ochre by her grieving relatives nearly 29,000 years ago.

A perfect work for anyone interested in the genealogy of England, Scotland, or Ireland, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts features a chapter specifically addressing the genetic makeup of those people in the United States who have descended from the British Isles.

©2006 Bryan Sykes (P)2006 Tantor

Great content, maddening narration

Interesting content for anyone with ancestry in the Ireland and British isles. Good science paired with a historical perspective. The narrator is American, why? His style is suited more to a children's book with his overly dramatic emphasis, especially at the start- almost makes you want to stop listening. The style does not match the content. If you can bear the narration and the clunky, casual writing style, it's an interesting story of the spread of humans to the isles and beyond to the new world.

Old school fascinating gene studies in UK

I really enjoyed the content and learning about my genealogy and what makes Britannia, Ireland, and Scotland so diverse and fascinating given the history and proof is in the pudding. This narrator is not the best but I got over it for the most part.

Not sure what I expected... Not a lot of takeaways

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Fair warning is that I listened to this about 5 months ago. I know that it wasn't a terrible book, but I retained very little and to me that is always an indicator that it wasn't a great book for me. I wanted to read it with a vague goal to expand my Nordic heritage knowledge. The main takeaway for me is that in the regions discussed, you can trace everyone back to a handful of original women. Even though I'm a scientist by profession, this book was not an effortless listen. It seemed to wander and wasn't easy to follow and the points, if they were made, were kind of lost on me I guess. Maybe because I already knew a bit about genetics? Maybe because it was an audio book? Maybe I was distracted?

What three words best describe Dick Hill’s voice?

He has a pleasant timbre, but also always sounds like he's just about to run out of breath. The effect is that I was always a little bit stressed out for him.

Please, more science - less academic politics

I really appreciate the science in Bryan Sykes books and admire greatly his work in genetics. The books I've listened to so far are about 1/4 science and 3/4 oneupmanship of Sykes over his fellow geneticists /or/ wanderings far from the topic. There should be more than enough genetic science and migration history to fill a large tome.

Please, create an abridged version that gets to and stays with the topic. Better, a compendium of Sykes' books that are all trimmed of emotional fat.

Too much inflection

Great story but I missed half of the words due to the narrators inflections. Probably better as a book.