Reviewed by Celtic Scholar
Synopsis: The narrative of the Celts in Britain has accommodated a number of substantial changes in the last two hundred years. At the beginning of that period the idea that Celts populated pre-Roman Britain was only a strange notion; we know better at present but continue to modify our ideas as scholarship redefines Celtic history and itself. Moore marks the new interdisciplinary nature of study of the Celts, most noticeably in the partnership of linguistics and archeology, and describes how professionals and gifted amateurs started to develop coherence within Celtic studies through analysis of such seemingly diverse subjects as ethnology, monuments, skulls, and art.
[Snip] The book is divided into two parts. These two parts define the history of Celtic scholarship in Britain. Each part is associated with the dominant approach to the problem of peopling of the British Isles. The first approach defined the Celts as a linguistic group and it covers the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century. During this time the study of the Celts developed through the study of language. Part two covers the 1840s to the end of the nineteenth century and during this time the study of the Celts was dominated by the study of material remains. It eclipsed the linguists and led to the formation of archaeology. This is the discipline in which modern and popular understanding of the Celts emerged.
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