The Celtic World

A History

John Waddell

“[The Celtic World] has reignited and widened the debate on the origin of the Celtic-speaking peoples of Europe, including our ancestors on this island. This debate has raged for over a century and a half, if not longer, often with academic opinions entrenched and, at times, imbued with a political or racial bias that inevitably produced more heat than light. [...] This book is a historical exploration of how our understanding of the ancient Celts and the concept of a European-wide world inhabited by Celtic-speaking people developed over time. The debate continues…” Ireland’s Genealogical Gazette, Vol. 21 No. 3, March 2026