Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland [Paperback]

While this is a good little book, it should be pointed out that this is simply the American edition of "Blood of the Isles". The content is exactly the same and offers nothing extra.

Quite why Amazon are offering the two as a pair above, I do not know.

Any readable account of genetic research is a treat. Finding one incorporating human history and the legends surrounding our past is a prize. Bryan Sykes has given us hints of this with his previous books on tracing women's and men's antecedents in Europe. He's a dedicated researcher and writing seems to come naturally to him. In this survey, the author keeps your interest with summaries of the old legends, the progress of the work and the results derived from the study. Yet, throughout, there is no sense of the stereotype "cold, detached researcher". Sykes is a man who cares equally for his subjects and his readers. He imparts his enthusiasm with almost gossipy prose - making this an informative and entertaining read.

This book combines the two tracks of the earlier ones with a definite focus on the British Isles. Sykes is able to weave various themes into one integrated presentation. He covers the climate shifts of the Ice Age and how that affected all life, from the plants through human settlement and dispersal through the Isles. He further recounts the various legends and "histories" of each region, with their heroes, struggles and legacies. Much of the view we hold of ourselves and those around us derives from the legends we were taught as children. Sykes wants to clarify those stories, grounding them in genetic evidence. Once, this evidence was gathered through blood sampling, a technique now replaced by cheek swabs. The bloodletting and the localisation led to the original European title: "Blood of The Isles".

Human occupation of The Isles began erratically, he explains. After initial forays, the flow and ebb of glacial ice cleared the land of life, then allowed its return. Joined to the European continent while the ice retreated, later flooding of the North and Irish Seas isolated life. When humans learned to navigate the seas, a new dynamic entered population development. Sykes then explains how some of this movement is traced through genetic analysis. In women, the "energy engine" of cells, which contains its own DNA, can be clocked through time. Men, on the other hand, have markers in their Y-Chromosome. This can be tracked by place with other factors providing chronology. For both women and men, Sykes has invented clan names to represent the patterns seen in the DNA.

From this beginning, the author begins his genetic survey of The Isles, weaving in the legends and histories available. He begins in Ireland, which seems anomalous, until Sykes explains that The Emerald Isle has suffered the least invasion - at least genetically. In one western region of Ireland, 98 per cent of the males are direct descendents of one of his genetic clans. Crossing the Irish Sea, he applies his analytical tools to Scotland, including a thorough explanation of just who the Picts of legend and some indefinite history might actually be. The people of Wales carry a strong legacy of myth and legend, but some of it will be modified by Sykes' and his teams' efforts. A lasting Norse presence, once considered a significant element in the Welsh make-up, Sykes declares is nearly invisible genetically.

The real mixing bowl of The Isles' genetics is, of course, England. With a history of Roman, Danish and Saxon incursions, the map of England is spotted with Sykes' clans. One of the more significant finds was the realisation that the British "Celts' " origins were in Northern Spain, not Central Europe as previously believed. Atlantic peoples mastered long-distance navigation long ago, and landing in the British Isles from Spain wasn't a formidable accomplishment. Those Spanish fishermen, Sykes explains, are the foundation of the modern British population. The markers, particularly those of the women's clans, show a remarkable persistence. Men's clan markers tend to represent locally well-established figures, which also persist unless cut off by some untoward occurrence, such as being slain by an invader. In sum, the genetic data does verify much legend, but significantly refutes many commonly held views about who populated The Isles.

While this book is worthy of five stars for several reasons, the US edition falls sadly short of expectations. Writing for a UK audience, Sykes can readily assume familiarity with many of the histories and legends he recounts. North American readers, however interested they might be in whether their ancestors were members of either the matrilinear or paternal clans Sykes devises, are unlikely to have much grasp of that material. A bibliography should have been a "must have" for this edition. Although this volume remains useful as a basis for investigating ancestry, the lack of historical reference hampers it. If it's worth changing the book's title, it's worth having sufficient information to keep it useful here. Perhaps it would have been simpler to leave the title as it was. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I was really upset when I opened this book. It is the same Bryan Sykes book published in the UK under the title 'Blood of the Isles'. It seems the americans couldn't cope with 'blood' in the title and changed it. Worse, it is printed on the typical re-cycled american rubbish paper. The original colour photos (on glossy paper), are BADLY photocopied in black and white on the usual american recycled rubbish paper. I doubt anyone at Amazon knew that it was the same book, since it has a different ISBN - so I blame the publishers, Norton. So don't buy it - go for the original Corgi paperbackBlood of the Isles