Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

'Dozens of stunning black and white photographs...If you're Irish enough to feel haunted by the place in any nook or corner of your heart, you will want to read the book and see the pictures.'--Boston Globe

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This analysis of the rise and fall of Celtic Ireland succeeds as a book aimed at the general reader because of Roy's literate and insightful personal narrative, which he interweaves with a survey of selected great lives, momentous times, and memorable places of early Irish history. Especially valuable for its lucid discussion of the relationship between the Celtic and Roman Christian Churches, this history is marked by the leadership of such men as the ``two Patricks'' (Palladius and Patrick), Columcille, and Columbanus. However, little attention is paid to the political and economic lives of the diverse populations present in Ireland who both influenced, and were influenced by, the Churches in the 5th to 12th centuries CE. Roy's visits to the sites in Ireland that conjure up for him a way of life long past make for an interesting thematic device but are more of a stimulus for walking tours than an aid to learning about the complexities of a culture too often simplified in Irish national histories. Recommended primarily for lower-division undergraduates, secondary school students, and general readers.-T.M. Wilson, United Nations International School

Booklist Review

A former Time journalist, Roy explores early Irish history from the island's first inhabitation around 7000 B.C. to the Norman invasion of A.D. 1169. This beautifully written, highly evocative work takes an innovative approach to Irish history, one that is fitting for a land where the past never dies. Roy combines scholarship with personal reminiscence and contemporary interviews to give a well-rounded portrait of the Celtic past and its hold on the present. Each chapter focuses on a particular geographical or archaeological site and examines the entire historical period the site represents. Especially fine chapters include those on Dublin's romantically chaotic National Museum; on the Hill of Tara, burial ground for the early Irish kings; and on the monastic Clonmacnoise. The black-and-white photographs (all but three taken by Roy) are wonderfully brooding and ghostlike. Part history, part journal, part travelogue, this exquisite book should find a wide audience. Notes; bibliography; index. CF. 936.4 Ireland History To 1172 / Celts Ireland History [CIP] 85-31100