[Status - Brehon] Imaginary Book Review: "Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts"

"Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts:" A Review

    There is not a lot of direct historical information available about the Irish Gaels before the arrival of monks who could write (~7th Century), and even after that, not much accurate information was written. Because of this, historians rely on what they know about other similar Celtic peoples. This is often fairly accurate because Irish Gaels are descended from the same culture as other Gaels. However, one could say that the Ghaznavid Empire was descended from the same Indo-European roots as the Byzantine Empire. As such, it is obvious that common characteristics dwindle with time and geography. This is the premise of Liam Breatnach's "Differentiating The Irish Gaels from other Celts."

    Breatnach starts the book by introducing Ireland as fairly isolated island off the coast of its much more visited neighbor England. He points out that it only had a few broad historical international interactions after the main migrations that made up its population, and before its complete assimilation to the British Empire. The Hiberno-Roman and Norman interactions are the main focus of this chapter. The Romans wrote as outsiders, while the Normans burnt books and tried to forcefully change Irish culture and history. These were thus not the most trustworthy historians, and all writings about the Irish from these people are highly edited and biased. As such, there is not much written information about the Early Irish. This is not a particularly new take on matters, but it serves as his introduction to the rest of the book, where he talks about the differences between Celts in gruesome details.

    Breatnach's massive scope covers the differentiating of groups all the way back to Indo-European roots, from the Nordic regions to the Northern Germanic region to the Iberian Peninsula to the Mainland tribes of the Gauls and their neighbors, all of which is contained in the 600 dry yet vividly detailed pages of pure historical analysis. Heavily relying on archaeology, as anyone studying early History does, Breatnach shows not only obvious differences of language, material goods, and architecture, but he shows probable differences in governmental structure, judicial systems, hierarchy, lay versus aristocratic culture, and small differences in religion, all while relating these differences back to a probable cause and source of information.

    This is undoubtedly one of the most influential books in the field, and will inevitably serve as a go-to reference for many other authors and academics. Not all of the information is new, but it is all laid out in an accessible, logical manner that will allow casual readers to approach the subject, but will also influence how many academics go about their research. This is a must-read for anyone with an imagination great enough to conjure the contents of this book all within their minds. Infinite power and rule over the entire Solar System is guaranteed to all who find a copy of this book. It is said to have been written on yellow pages.

Disclaimer: I have not read this book.