The Celtic peoples hold a fundamental place in the British national conscious-ness. In this book Simon James surveys ancient and modern ideas of the Celts and challenges them in the light of revolutionary new thinking on the Iron Age peoples of Britain. Examining how ethnic and national identities are constructed, he presents an alternative history of the British Isles, proposing that the idea of insular Celtic identity is really a product of the rise of nationalism in the eighteenth century. He considers whether the “Celticness” of the British Isles is a romantic, even politically dangerous, falsification of history, with implications for the debate on self-government for the Celtic regions of the United Kingdom.

Essays in Anglo-Saxon Studies v.8 (Glasgow, 2015).

Insights into the lives of any group of historical people are provided by three main types of evidence: their language, their literature and their material culture. The contributors to this volume draw on all three types of evidence in order to present new research into the lives of the Anglo-Saxons. The particular focus is on daily life – the ordinary rather than the extraordinary, the normal rather than the exceptional. Rather than attempting an overview, the essays address individual scenarios in greater depth, but with an emphasis on shared experience.

The following scholars have contributed essays to this collection:

Martha Bayless
University of Oregon

Carole P. Biggam
University of Glasgow

Paul Cavill
University of Nottingham

Amy W. Clark
University of California, Berkeley

James Graham-Campbell
University College London

Antonina Harbus
Macquarie University, Sydney

Carole Hough
University of Glasgow

Daria Izdebska
Liverpool Hope University

Karen Louise Jolly
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Alexandra Lester-Makin
University of Manchester

Elisabeth Okasha
University College, Cork

Phyllis Portnoy
University of Manitoba

Jane Roberts
University of London