Really interesting historical account and genetic summary of the genealogy of the UK. Turns out I've read it before in the form of Saxons, Vikings and Celts, the American name for the book. Only sad that Oxford Ancestors has closed down so we can't track our genealogical history too!

Author has a pleasant, pithy, first-person prose, but his conclusions are insubstantial enough to be summarized in an e-mail. This is essentially the longest a Wikipedia article I’ve ever read, and the only one I’ve ever paid for.

Excellent Book

A very accessible book for the historian interested in science, or vice versa. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and would recommend.

The explanation of DNA research and the history of modern genetics is reason enough to read this book. The author somehow makes this information not only understandable (pretty much) but engrossing reading. The results of the research, in the form of some myth-busting regarding the origins of 'The Celts' and the frequency (or not) of Viking roots in many British and Irish populations are equally fascinating.

Interesting

Dry in parts. Fascinating in parts. Could be edited a bit more to cut out some extraneous material. The chapter on DNA was excellent. Certainly well researched and the analysis is thorough.

Way more history than I was expecting. Went off on weird tangents, like talking about the results being coins and how he would pile the coins up. I really didn't appreciate his rant about numbers hiding real life. This book was a lot longer than it needed to be and his efforts to make it more interesting, make the data breathe, just made it too long-winded. The plus was being able to learn more about how all the pieces fit together genetically/historically.

I enjoyed this book. It was somewhat technical, very informative and completely readable.

This book was very immersive and kept my interest from cover to cover. I loved that the historical context was covered the DNA evidence and made the history that you learned in school really come to life through the people who are alive today. I want to have my DNA looked at now!

I picked this up after a DNA test showed I am 1/3 English and 1/3 Viking. I thought it was quite an interesting read. It contains a blend of genetics, history, mythology, anthropology, and even geography!

I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about both the history of the Isles and the science behind genetics.

Several years ago, when I was in Scotland, I took a class on the Picts. They are a very elusive people surrounded by mythology and historians have had trouble pinning down realistic information about them, so there have been numerous myths about them propagated over the years. Serious historians of the Picts have fairly recently decided they were almost definitely a Celtic people who were related to more to the Celts of southern Britain rather than the Gaels (who are the primary ancestors of modern-day Scots, and came over from Ireland). Several years ago I realized it would probably be possible to do a genetic study to see if this theory could be supported more definitively. But obviously I did not have the capability to do this on my own. So I was hugely excited when I stumbled across this book in the bookstore (especially when I checked the index and saw multiple references to the Picts, and then even an entire chapter dedicated to them!). I was a teeny bit disappointed in the results relating to the Picts, but so be it.

The book is an unusual mix of archeology, history, science, and even methodology and a little bit of history of science. The first chapter starts off with an account of the author's experience successfully extracting DNA from the Cheddar tooth (a 12,000-year-old specimen found in Somerset, England) and then from Cheddar Man (Britain's oldest complete skeleton, dating to about 7000 BC). He then discusses the historical (archeological) context of these specimens in Britain. Chapter 2, Who Do We Think We Are?, discusses the origin myths held over history in Britain, including Arthurian lore and the Teutonic myth which fell by the wayside as it grew in Germany to morph into the Aryan movement. Chapter 4, The Skull Snatchers, is a brief history of the "science" of heredity practiced in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including a discussion of the practice of phrenology. Chapter 5, The Blood Bankers, includes an interesting explanation of blood types and a short history of blood transfusions.

The next two chapters help the reader understand the science of the research Sykes carried out. Chapter 6, The Silent Messengers, discusses aspects of DNA, including mutations, mitochondrial DNA, and chromosomes. He also introduces his original idea of the seven(+) matrilineal ancestors of modern Europeans (to whom he dedicated an entire book: The Seven Daughters of Eve The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry). Chapter 7, The Nature of the Evidence, talks about the collection of samples and statistical and other analysis methods.

Sykes goes on to tell the history of all of the major peoples (nations, mostly) who have lived in the British Isles (in the following chapters: 3. The Resurgent Celts, 8. Ireland, 10. Scotland, 11. The Picts, 13. Wales, 15. England, and 16. Saxons, Danes, Vikings and Normans). Then there is a specific discussion of the DNA of the four nations, with a chapter for each. The book concludes with a chapter tying everything together.

So, this book did have a lot of personal significance to me (in addition to my interest in the Picts, I focused on Irish and some British history while doing my history BA and also studied Scottish Gaelic), although it did not necessarily tell me much about my own heritage because I know few specifics. Clearly this book will be highly enjoyable to the many Americans obsessed with their Irish or Scottish heritage, as well as to other people with ties to or interest in the British Isles.

Oh my goodness was this a difficult read. The book itself was actually very good, but I gave it a four due to the fact that my librarian brain-power wasn't handling the talk of genetics very well.

Bryan Sykes, a geneticist in the UK, takes the reader on a journey of the history of the Isles through genetics. He starts by giving the written history we know through people such as Geoffrey of Monmouth (King Arthur), then the Saxon ideal. From there he discusses the beginning of genetically profiling people through history. It started with skull shape and physical traits, moved to blood typing, and finally DNA.

Finally, Sykes takes us through different regions and shows us the manner of DNA profiling everyone and the results.

The book was absolutely fascinating to read. I was particularly floored with his use of mDNA and the y-chromosome to show how people are related. If you follow mutations back on these items, they will eventually point to one common ancestor. There are roughly 8 women that are the "Eves" of the women living in the Isles and about 5 men who correspond to the "Adams" of all the men living in the area.

However, this is the type of book you have to read while awake and alert because it is very easy to skim over the pages and realize you don't remember a think you just read. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in history, genetics, or the British Isles... preferably an interest in all three. I thought it was worth the struggle.

Hasn't kept well. The authors ego intrudes everywhere and the book can't decide if it is a novel, general history or a research project.
I know Sykes was a pioneer in this field but his use of personal names to describe DNA groups is irritating to me. Like his own private language. Could do with a cross reference somewhere to scientific terms for them. The web site mentioned in the appendix may have had this but is no longer there.