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 | | Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland by Bryan Sykes ISBN-10: 9780393330755 ISBN-10: 0-393-33075-3 ISBN-13: 9780393330755 ISBN-13: 978-0-393-33075-5 Paperback 2007-12-17 W. W. Norton & Company Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description From the best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, an illuminating guide to the genetic history of the British Isles. One of the world's leading geneticists, Bryan Sykes has helped thousands find their ancestry in the British Isles. Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, which resulted from a systematic ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, traces the true genetic makeup of the British Isles and its descendants, taking readers from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales to the resting place of "The Red Lady" of Paviland and the tomb of King Arthur. Genealogy has become a popular pastime of Americans interested in their heritage, and this is the perfect work for anyone interested in finding their heritage in England, Scotland, or Ireland. | ||
Reviews | ||
Good book, BAD NARRATOR I was hoping to -listen- to this book and skipped over the hardback and softcover and opted for the audiobook CD-set... Boy, was that a bad bet. As far as I can tell Mr.Sykes book may have been well written and entertaining but the experience of trying to follow it when narrated by Dick Hill is a huge disappointment and downright painful. Our narrator sounds like an aged 1950's newsman with a continuously halting, irregular style of inflection that puts one in mind of Paul Harvey riding a bicycle down a never-ending flight of stairs. DONT BUY THE AUDIOBOOK, but do make time to read the book in print. PS: click the hyperlink on DICK HILL on the Amazon description for a warning of other audiobooks he has "narrated"... CAVEAT EMPTOR ! | ||
Can I have my two hours back? On page 92 the author has not yet begun speaking about the subject of his book. Cutting my losses and tossing it in the "take to Half Priced Books" pile. | ||
read Spencer Wells instead The book covers an interesting topic but the first 90 pages or so are all history of science (or historical summaries), not molecular genetics/evolution! The book is pretty basic--it doesn't seem to be written for an educated audience and I found Sykes's condescending tone rather irritating (and I am NOT a geneticist). Sykes doesn't write nearly as well as does Spencer Wells on very similar topics in human ancestry/molecular evolution. His conclusion is that most of the British Isles are inhabited by people with a very similar genetic or "ethnic" background, whether they think of themselves as "celtic" or not. The history of the idea of "celtic" identity was probably the most interesting part of the book for me. If you have any knowledge of human genomics at all, read something else, or check this book out from a library before purchasing it. | ||
Good History This book attempts to find the historic origins of those living in the British Isles through DNA testing. The author and geneticist describes how his team gathered data and his interpretation of that data. He also highlights some of the historic immigration, e.g. Romans, Vikings, Saxons, etc...and what impact they had on the genetics of the Isles. It is an interesting and entertaining read, answering some but also opening new questions. I recommend it. | ||
Genealogy Gets a Boost from Genetics Though an Oxford scholar/scientist/professor, Sykes has provided even the casual reader with access to DNA research and its connection to our European roots. The reader will quickly imagine him/herself sitting before Sykes in a classroom and understanding the material! Well-written, documented, and accessible, this book is a must-read for amateur and professional genealogists alike. | ||