He also provides a lot more information about the Celts on the periphery of the ancient world, like Britain and Ireland, and uses the surviving Irish literary texts passed down through the centuries to help interpret who the Celts might have been. The author of this book has much more skepticism towards these sources which is refreshing. However, both these authors put great stock in Roman descriptions of who the Celts were, even though these sources clearly had some bias. Harl gives more information about the effect Celts had on Rome, but there is also a lot of Roman history that you could maybe skip (and you will get shouted at by the author). However, you will feel like you're having random facts thrown at you and it is more disorganised in how the subjects are grouped. Cunliffe gives more detail on the ancient Celts, whereas this book has one chapter on the subject at the end. If you want to further your knowledge, then listen to the other two titles I mentioned. Both have their pluses and minuses, but this book is definitely the most interesting and I feel like I get a much better overview of the topic. I've listened to Barry Cunliffe's The Ancient Celts, and a good chunk of Kenneth Harl's Rome and the Barbarians.

Start with this audiobook if you want to learn about the Celts.

Great way to start learning about the Celts Forget all the Brigadoon and 'The Quiet Man', even - though I still enjoy it - Whisky Galore- Celts were/are everywhere, sometimes hidden. We also, surprisingly, learnt Irish history from the viewpoint of the indigenous Catholic population-('my enemy's enemy is my friend'?) and we knew fine well our Christian heritage was Irish not Roman, but Anglo-Saxons, like the Romans before them, controlled the propaganda and still do. Modern scholarship (archeology, closer analysis of texts and artefacts, etc) has revealed that there was far more to know about the once widespread Celtic civilisation than Julius Caesar (The Gallic Wars) and Romans in general wanted you to know (Rome was humiliated early on by Italian Celts, so don't expect objectivity!) When I was at school, in Scotland, in the dying years of the British Empire, you had to study Latin to go to uni, which I didn't mind at all, because it's logical and concise and rewarding (you know when you've got it right!) We also knew that the Romans invaded 'Scotland' a wee bit, but thanks, probably, as much to the midges as the ferocious natives, they didn't stay long.

The Celts by Peter Berresford Ellis