Written with great verve, this is a sparkling account of how the Druids were reinvented over the last four centuries.”— Jeremy Black, BBC History Magazine
“Blood and Mistletoe is undoubtedly the most extensive and systematic account of its subject ever written . . . essential for any scholar interested in the way ideas about Druids have developed over the past 300 years.”—William Whyte, Times Literary Supplement
“This is an ably researched and well-written book . . . Blood and Mistletoe is the saga of a miraculous transformation.”—Peter Ackroyd, The Times
“All the difficult and contentious answers are now assembled in Ronald Hutton’s erudite, humane and compelling study.”—Rosemary Hill, Sunday Times
“My only regret is that although it extends to a quarter of a million words, it is not a few score thousand longer.”—Tom Shippey, London Review of Books
“Should be a copy of this important, occasionally sensational and highly entertaining book in every Welsh library . . . Hutton’s scholarship is not only breathtakingly thorough but also ruthlessly critical.”—Timothy Mowl, Times Higher Education Supplement
“A vast, enthralling history of a mysterious cult.”—The Independent
". . .engaging, learned, evenhanded, and abundantly rewarding book. . . .This is a substantial piece of work."—John Carey, Europe: Early Modern and Modern
‘[A] densely erudite yet splendidly readable book... Worth reading.' — Michael Ostling, History Today,
“A tour-de-force.”—Penny Billington, Druidry.org
“Beautifully written, lucidly argued, carefully illustrated, comprehensive. A scholarly delight.”—Dr. Adam Stout, Reviews in History
“This is a book that every Druid ought to read.”—Druidnetwork.com
Shortlisted for the 2009 Katherine Briggs Folklore Award
"A magisterial and eminently readable account of the druids and how they have been continually reinvented over the last three hundred years by visionaries, political radicals, angry academics and downright fraudsters. Recommended reading for anyone who has driven down the A303 late at night, slowed down as they approached Stonehenge and wondered for a moment if the original druids really did process round those gigantic stones wreathed in mistletoe and clutching blood-stained knives!" - Tony Robinson
"Lucid, open-minded, encyclopaedic and yet still fascinating - almost perfect history if such a thing were possible." - Terry Jones
"Everything that is known about the druids plus everything that is known about knowing about them! Ronald Hutton uses the quest for the druids as a mirror of how Europeans have seen themselves through the last thousand years. It's an enormous undertaking performed with even-handedness and a sense of joy in history." - Terry Jones
