Druidlands

The Druids – mystical, spiritual leaders of Britain and Europe during the last centuries BC – are a people shrouded in mystery. Miranda Aldhouse-Green’s Druidlands is an illuminating, thrilling guidebook that throws light on this most enigmatic, arcane caste.Druids flourished as the theocrats of their day – employing sacrifice, shamanism and magic – until the Romans forced them underground, condemning them as hostile religious insurrectionistswho threatened the conquerors’ supremacy. But Druidism endured: traditions were preserved, while in subtle ways, new composite beliefs were carved out alongside Roman paganism. Drawing on classical literary sources and a wealth of archaeological material, much of it recently unearthed, Druidlands points to a rich and complex native religion in the heartlands of Britain and Gaul.