This is the latest from bestselling author, Graham
Robb. The idea that became this book arrived one evening
like an unwanted visitor. It clearly expected to stay
for a long time, and I knew that its presence in my home
would be extremely compromising. Treasure maps and
secret paths belong to childhood. An adult scholar who
sees an undiscovered ancient world reveal itself,
complete with charts, instruction manual and guidebook,
is bound to question the functioning of his mental
equipment...When Graham Robb made plans to cycle the
legendary Via Heraklea, he had no idea that the line he
plotted - stretching from the south-western tip of the
Iberian Peninsula, across the Pyrenees and towards the
Alps - would change the way he saw a civilization. It
was an ancient path that took him deep into the world of
the Celts: their gods, their art, and, most of all,
their sophisticated knowledge of science. Gradually, a
lost map revealed itself, of an empire constructed with
precision and beauty across vast tracts of Europe.
Oriented according to the movements of the Celtic sun
god, the map had been forgotten for almost two
millennia. Its implications were astonishing. Minutely
researched and rich in revelations, The Ancient Paths
brings to life centuries of our distant history and
reinterprets pre-Roman Europe. Told with all of Robb's
grace and verve, it is a dazzling, unforgettable
book.
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