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简介:What does it mean to be Celtic? The popular portrayals of Celtic music, history, and folklore are familiar, but what is less well-known is the staggering reach of Celtic culture - the lands, languages, and centuries it encompasses - as well as the vigorous amount of scholarship devoted to Celtic studies today. Now there is a reference work that captures the richness and worldwide impact of the Celts - the most comprehensive and authoritative work ever published on the Celtic-speaking peoples. Celtic Culture offers: 1,500 A-Z entries addressing every aspect of Celtic life from the prehistoric beginnings of settled agriculture to the digital age, including all lands occupied by Celtic language groups; a geographic reach that focuses on the lands where Celtic languages are still spoken today (Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), but also includes lands where they flourished in antiquity (Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula, northern Italy, Central Europe, the Balkans, and Asia Minor), where they survived through the Middle Ages (Pictland, Strathclyde, Cumbria, Galicia), and where they lasted until modern times (Cornwall, the Isle of Man); a multidisciplinary approach encompassing history, archaeology, mythology, language, literature, the arts, politics, material culture, and modern media; a comprehensive bibliography of 7,000+ items, including both original sources and the most important and up-to-date modern discussions; a quick-reference and glossary containing 10,000 entries; and over 250 photographs, illustrations, and maps.
After centuries of dispersal and upheaval, Celtic culture endures. But exploring that culture usually means dealing with dense scholarly tomes or trite popularizations. Celtic Culture offers a vivid recreation of the real story of the Celts, in a way that captivates the imagination without oversimplifying the research. With contributions from the world's foremost experts in Celtic studies, under the guidance of premier Celtic scholar John T. Koch, it is a standard-defining work sure to fascinate readers for ages to come. - Back cover.