The Sea Kingdoms: The History of Celtic Britain & Ireland by Alistair Moffat

“I have travelled south from Stornoway through all the Hebrides to Ulster, to Galloway, to the Isle of Man, southern and western Ireland. I can report that there is such a place as Celtic Britain, that it shares a common culture, an intimately related history and strikingly similar geography. The story of Celtic Britain can be found in these places.” “The Sea Kingdoms” is a narrative history based on a journey from Shetland, down the west coast of Scotland taking in the Isle of Man and the Outer Hebrides, across to Ireland, back to Anglesey and the west Welsh coast, back to Ireland again and finally Cornwall. Using Patrick Leigh Fermor as a model, the heart of the book is the journey from which Moffat will stray into the oral histories, legends and known events of the Celts and their past. Its narrative soaked in legend and myth and sensuality, tragedy and gore.