This book is an
historical study of Irish, British, Scotch, Manx and, to a lesser extent, other Celtic mythology, legends,
customs and fairy tales. The author does some comparison with other mythologies, including those of Greece and the Near East. There are many correlations stated among the various Celtic mythologies as well--sometimes he seems to be reaching somewhat, but others are positively eye-opening. He anticipated Jung''s theories of archetypal contents, without so naming them, as when he speaks of the solar heroes, the battle between light and darkness, and the like.
There is a great deal of ethnology and history in this book. I found it particularly interesting that it ascribed the origin of the Irish people to Spain. I''ve read of recent DNA studies showing a high degree of correlation in Irish and Spanish DNA.
He describes the Roman war upon the Druids, later continued by Christian forces (also Roman in origin). He also describes the how and why of certain folk-customs'' continuation, in spite of the Church''s and overlords'' attempts to supress all memory, let alone worship, of the old gods.
There is a very interesting synthesis of
historical and mythological and oral historical records. He gives a very compelling chronological development of Irish
mythology, in particular.
He has perhaps too much of a tendency to amalgamate various characters in mythology, with only a passing nod at the Celtic belief in, and knowledge of, reincarnation and the tranmigration of souls, as well as the powers of shapeshifting and other transmutations that modern physical science and the author''s comfortable and correct world view tend to ignore or dismiss all together as fantasy.
All in all, it is well worth reading if one has any interest in British and other Celtic prehistory and mythology. Although some of his speculations have since been disproven (q.v. the Stonehenge material), I''ve seen no better source overall on this subject. Of particular interest is his annotated bibliography, as well as references in the footnotes on various pages.