The Celts: The People who Came Out of the Darkness by Gerhard Herm.
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DESCRIPTION: Hardback with Dust Jacket: 312 pages. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press; (1977). Size: 8½ x 5¾ x 1½ inches; 1¼ pounds. “The Celts” is the two-thousand-year epic story of the Northern European civilization that rivaled Greece and Rome for richness, diversity, and power. Originating with fierce naked warriors who collected enemy heads as war trophies, the Celts eventually made their influence felt from the Middle East to the Atlantic, bringing with them a unique culture and mythology, and a style of art considered the greatest achievement north of the Alps after the Ice Age. The Romans called them “furor celticus” and at the height of their empire Ankara, Cologne, Belgrade, and Milan all spoke Celtish. “The Celts” is the remarkable story of our Northern European cultural ancestors, whose language is still spoken by more than two million people in Brittany, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
CONDITION: GOOD. Partially read hardcover w/dustjacket with deluxe full cloth covers. St. Martin's Press (1977) 312 pages. Evidence suggests the book was read through about page 23, however the paper shows marked aging. The surface of the closed page edges evidence a dense sprinkling of small, tan-colored age speckles known as "foxing" (visible of course only when book is closed, not to individual pages, only to the mass of closed page edges, sometimes referred to as the "page block"). There's no foxing inside the book EXCEPT to the front and back end papers (the underside of the covers; the first and last blank, unprinted pages of the book). The end papers do show very faint foxing - just a few little (almost imperceptible) blotches. Otherwise the pages are clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, and with only very light reading wear through about page 23. Outside (in addition to the foxing to the mass of closed page edges) the book evidences mild edge and corner shelfwear to the dustjacket in the form of modest "crinkling" and (abrasive) rubbing to the dustjacket spine head and heel, as well as to the dustjacket "tips" (the open corners of the dustjacket, top and bottom, front and back). There's also a 3/4 inch closed (neatly mended) edge tear to the dustjacket spine heel. We carefully repaired the closed edge tear from the underside of the dustjacket and touched it up with an oil-based sharpie, minimizing the prominence of this superficial cosmetic blemish. Last, the back side of the dustjacket, which is white, shows considerable age yellowing/foxing. Given the fact that the book has clearly been (at least) partially read, and given the prominent foxing and the edgeworn dustjacket, the book obviously lacks the "sex appeal" of a "shelf trophy". Nonetheless for those not concerned with whether the book will or will not enhance their social status or intellectual reputation, it is otherwise clean and only partially (or very lightly) read. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! Meticulous and accurate descriptions! Selling rare and out-of-print ancient history books on-line since 1997. We accept returns for any reason within 14 days! #1356n.
PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR JACKET DESCRIPTION(S) AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.
PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.
REVIEW: The 2,000-year epic story of the Northern European civilization that rivaled ancient Greece and Rome for richness, diversity, and power. Chronicles the Celtic influence from the Middle East to the Atlantic, which encompassed aspects of culture, mythology, and style of art. Gerhard Herm was born in 1931, studied in Munich and the United States, and retired near Munich. He has produced a number of documentary films for German television on Mediterranean civilizations and his book “The Phoenicians” (U.K. 1975) was translated into 24 languages.
REVIEW: The remarkable history of these fierce naked Northern European cultural ancestors, whose influence remains strong to this day, an epic story of the Western World's third great civilization.
REVIEW: If you are looking for a good general introduction to the culture of the Celts, this is a good starting place. The book goes over the few contemporary historical accounts of the Celts (Greek and Roman), a little of the archaeology, the mythology and the art. Mr. Herm does not attempt to be the final resource on the Celts, but tries to give people an idea of their complex society. The Celts did not write their own history, so we have to be content with contemporary Greek and Roman writings on their culture. What they wrote about tells as much about the ancient Greeks and Romans as it does about the Celts.
The author tries to define at what point in time we can delineate a Celtic culture, plus he tries to put the Celts into context of other contemporary "barbaric" cultures such as the Scythians and Ilyrians. There is also a discussion of current (mid 1970s) theories about the origins of the Indo-European cultures, which the Celts belonged to, and where the pre-Indo-European cultures originated. If you are looking for a slightly scholarly approach to introduce you to the ancient Celts, I recommend this book.
REVIEW: This book is a comprehensive history of the Celts from pre-historic times. I found this book to be quite enjoyable reading. Herm presents the views of hundreds of historians and phiologists alike without bias. The narrative style of some portions make the reader feel that he or she is really there.
REVIEW: I liked this work. It certainly is not the "beginning and end" book on this particular subject, but it does give a wonderful overview and certainly stimulates. The book gives us good hard facts without overwhelming us with academic drivel, i.e. the author is not trying to impress us with unverifiable facts and "trade jargon." Good popular history. Add it to your collection and go from there. Recommend highly.
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Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world – but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.
I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."
