Product Description

WASPs finally get their due in this stimulating history by one of the world's leading geneticists.

Saxons, Vikings, and Celts is the most illuminating book yet to be written about the genetic history of Britain and Ireland. Through a systematic, ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, Bryan Sykes has traced the true genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants. This historical travelogue and genetic tour of the fabled isles, which includes accounts of the Roman invasions and Norman conquests, takes readers from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales, where a 300,000-year-old tooth was discovered, to the resting place of "The Red Lady" of Paviland, whose anatomically modern body was dyed with ochre by her grieving relatives nearly 29,000 years ago. A perfect work for anyone interested in the genealogy of England, Scotland, or Ireland, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts features a chapter specifically addressing the genetic makeup of those people in the United States who have descended from the British Isles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68856 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From AudioFile
This work concerns a decade-long study of several thousand volunteers from Britain, Ireland, and the U.S. Sykes wished to compile a genetic history of the British Isles from DNA evidence, and in that he did succeed. Interweaving historical accounts of the Isles with accounts from his own study, he finds that much of accepted history is wrong. The choice of Dick Hill to read this meandering work may not be the best fit. His voice is fine but does not quite mesh with this production. His rhythm and pace are rather disjointed. This characteristic makes the work hard to follow, and the listener can quickly lose interest. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author
Bryan Sykes is professor of human genetics at Oxford University. His company, Oxford Ancestors, traces human genetic backgrounds. Sykes's books include the New York Times bestseller The Seven Daughters of Eve.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant narrative but confusing nonetheless.
Well, this is certainly an interesting presentation of these DNA findings. I am persuaded that the DNA differences between the Scots, Welsh, Irish, and English are not significant, but I'm confused about most of the other issues he raises. For example, my surname would indicate Anglo-Norman ancestry yet my tests indicate what Sykes describes as Oisin(R1B). Okay. Yet, I look at maps of continental Europe and Scandinavia on other websites and see differing levels of R1B all over the place. I'm not sure that there's any way to sort out ethnic identity based on DNA. Not that it matters that much to me. His account of Irish mythology is worth the price of the book. I also think he should have matched up his "nicknames" to the conventional haplogroup identification.

Very light on the science; disconnected from genetic geneaolgy
After having paid for genealogical DNA testing for both myself (both Y and Mt) and my wife (Mt only, obviously), having received the results, and having developed some understanding of them, I looked forward to this book, since our ancestors are thought to have come from the British Isles.

Unfortunately, the author is completely caught up in his proprietary fanciful naming structure for haplogroups -- the "Seven Daughters of Eve" stuff.

He completely ignores all the other research being done in genetic genealogy -- and the hundreds of thousands of people who have had their DNA scientifically tested -- to the extent that he does not even offer a translation table (which could have easily been done in appendix) from his fanciful names to the scientific names of the haplogroups. In this sense this book will confuse more than it enlightens.

At several points in the book he announces that he will spare us all the science -- at at least one point I had the feeling that he was saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" and that I was in some sort of Oz. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to be spared the science, and I've worked hard enough understanding genetic genealogy that it's a little insulting to be "spared the science".

If you want to kill some time, and you've read all the Tolkien and Harry Potter books, this is an easy read. You'll even get a little travelogue, and some pre-history of the British Isles thrown in. Any preconceived notions you have about your British Isles roots can survive unquestioned.

However, if you're interested in really finding out where your own genetic genealogy fits in the British Isles, you'll be alternately bored and frustrated. Mostly frustrated.

History Buff
I am only now starting to enjoy this book. The author needs a good editor. He apparently is quite a scientist, and quite a scholar, but at least for me it take a lot of reading to get at the facts. Skip to the chapters on the DNA evidence, and then come back to his description of the history.