WASPs finally get their due in this stimulating history by one of the world's leading geneticists. ''Saxons, Vikings, and Celts'' is the most illuminating book yet to be written about the genetic history of Britain and Ireland. Through a systematic, ten-year DNA survey of more than 10,000 volunteers, Bryan Sykes has traced the true genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants. This historical travelogue and genetic tour of the fabled isles, which includes accounts of the Roman invasions and Norman conquests, takes readers from the Pontnewydd cave in North Wales, where a 300,000-year-old tooth was discovered, to the resting place of ''The Red Lady'' of Paviland, whose anatomically modern body was dyed with ochre by her grieving relatives nearly 29,000 years ago. A perfect work for anyone interested in the genealogy of England, Scotland, or Ireland, ''Saxons, Vikings, and Celts'' features a chapter specifically addressing the genetic makeup of those people in the United States who have descended from the British Isles.