mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
What a great idea for a book and a scientific exploration of dna. What a horrible example of the execution of a book. Just plain badly written. And yet the idea of mixing the history, stories and myths with the location of differences of mutation in genes in a particular place, is an awesome one. And yet the science and the statistics of the book itself should have been so much better. I learned quite a bit from this one, but there was quite the opportunity to learn more.
efalmquist's review
2.0
I was disappointed in the amount of mythology and legends that were in this book, and the lack of more concrete science and history.
victoriaalexander's review
4.0
Very good book. Lots of interesting historical information to balance all the scientific facts. I can't wait to get a cheek swab.
drjohnbrown's review
It was interesting, but I just didn’t have the time or patience to get this one done.
thebibliophage's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Originally published on my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
Bryan Sykes focuses on science and genetics in his book, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland. Published in 2006, it explains and examines his extensive research.
His team took thousands of cheek swabs from folks all over the British Isles. The goal was finding where genetics of conquering populations like Saxons and Vikings is strongest in the area. Conversely, the team also searched for genetics related to the islands’ indigenous populations, the Picts and Celts. In that work, Sykes attempts to determine if they really are indigenous.
Although Sykes shares funny stories of his various data gathering strategies, the book borders on the academic, with a drier tone and heavier focus on statistics and analysis. Still, it’s an interesting question for genealogists with roots in the British Isles—Britain, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
This is entirely a book about explaining genetics from a fairly small corner of the world. I also appreciated the detailed explanations of various types of DNA and DNA tests. We now focus on autosomal DNA, but Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA are also key elements. Sykes does his best to make it approachable, but I often put the book down and struggled to re-engage later.
If you’re a serious genealogical researcher, you’ll appreciate his ideas and information. However, casual hobbyists might find it a bit too dry.
Bryan Sykes focuses on science and genetics in his book, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland. Published in 2006, it explains and examines his extensive research.
His team took thousands of cheek swabs from folks all over the British Isles. The goal was finding where genetics of conquering populations like Saxons and Vikings is strongest in the area. Conversely, the team also searched for genetics related to the islands’ indigenous populations, the Picts and Celts. In that work, Sykes attempts to determine if they really are indigenous.
Although Sykes shares funny stories of his various data gathering strategies, the book borders on the academic, with a drier tone and heavier focus on statistics and analysis. Still, it’s an interesting question for genealogists with roots in the British Isles—Britain, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
This is entirely a book about explaining genetics from a fairly small corner of the world. I also appreciated the detailed explanations of various types of DNA and DNA tests. We now focus on autosomal DNA, but Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA are also key elements. Sykes does his best to make it approachable, but I often put the book down and struggled to re-engage later.
If you’re a serious genealogical researcher, you’ll appreciate his ideas and information. However, casual hobbyists might find it a bit too dry.
katebond's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
In a lot of ways this research has been surpassed but it's an interesting insight into the genetic makeup and history of the British Isles.
alexctelander's review
5.0
SAXONS, VIKINGS, AND CELTS: THE GENETIC ROOTS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND BY BRYAN SYKES: Bryan Sykes, author of The Seven Daughters of Eve and Adam’s Curse, professor of human genetics at Oxford university, has spent many years of his life studying genes, chromosomes, and DNA; specializing in collecting data from all over the world and tracing ancestral lineages back thousands of years. Sykes was one of the instrumental geneticists in tracing all Europeans back to seven ancestral women. From this, Sykes now takes on the challenge of determining the ancestry of the British Isles. How much Saxon, Viking, and Celtic DNA is left in a modern day Englishman? Saxons, Vikings, and Celts is a bold and ambitious embarkation that reveals the astounding results of Sykes many years of study; while the facts may present more questions of why than answers; Saxons is one of the most important books of the twenty-first century.
Do not be daunted by the prospect pages of DNA statistics, Sykes goes out of his way to break everything down and explain it in a detailed and simple way; he even warns the reader before the “part with all the numbers.” Saxons, Vikings, and Celts apart from being a book about DNA and genetics of the British Isles, is also an amazing source for history. The first chapter is spent setting the scene with Sykes’ career and research. Chapter two is one of the most brilliant summaries of British history: from the end of Roman rule, through the history of King Arthur, past each important monarch, on to the present status quo; Sykes has an innate ability for explaining things in a way that make their connections obvious to everyone. The next few chapters are spent explaining his process for collecting the genetic data throughout the British Isles, first with blood samples from schools and blood banks, and then with plastic brushes that are scraped on the inside of the cheek to get skin samples -- an easier method better received by the people donating their samples. Sykes then dedicates a chapter for each country covering it’s history of immigration with Celts, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, with the successive chapters covering the genetic correlation of these specific countries.
The last five pages of the book are what the reader has spent the last two hundred and fifty pages reading to get to; here Sykes correlates all the data together and explains the results, which are astonishing to say the least. They essentially boil down to this: the genetic makeup of the British Isles mainly consists of the Britons and Celts who have lived there for thousands of years, while the invading Saxon, Viking, and Norman people are but a minor percentage of the total. What does this all mean? Sadly, Sykes doesn’t really explain this at all – perhaps he is saving it for another book? – nevertheless, the reader is left coming up with his or her own ideas of what these results mean. Were the invading peoples not that great in number? Did they not actually settle in such large numbers, as we think?
While Saxons, Vikings, and Celts may not answer every question you have, the facts that it brings to light with the irrefutable certainty of DNA evidence are enough to spend many years contemplating. Sykes has even started his own company, Oxford Ancestors (www.oxfordancestors.com), where one can sign up and with a sample can have their DNA traced through ancestors who lived, walked, and breathed thousands of years ago. For those seeking more facts and answers from Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, they should visit www.bloodoftheisles.net.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Do not be daunted by the prospect pages of DNA statistics, Sykes goes out of his way to break everything down and explain it in a detailed and simple way; he even warns the reader before the “part with all the numbers.” Saxons, Vikings, and Celts apart from being a book about DNA and genetics of the British Isles, is also an amazing source for history. The first chapter is spent setting the scene with Sykes’ career and research. Chapter two is one of the most brilliant summaries of British history: from the end of Roman rule, through the history of King Arthur, past each important monarch, on to the present status quo; Sykes has an innate ability for explaining things in a way that make their connections obvious to everyone. The next few chapters are spent explaining his process for collecting the genetic data throughout the British Isles, first with blood samples from schools and blood banks, and then with plastic brushes that are scraped on the inside of the cheek to get skin samples -- an easier method better received by the people donating their samples. Sykes then dedicates a chapter for each country covering it’s history of immigration with Celts, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, with the successive chapters covering the genetic correlation of these specific countries.
The last five pages of the book are what the reader has spent the last two hundred and fifty pages reading to get to; here Sykes correlates all the data together and explains the results, which are astonishing to say the least. They essentially boil down to this: the genetic makeup of the British Isles mainly consists of the Britons and Celts who have lived there for thousands of years, while the invading Saxon, Viking, and Norman people are but a minor percentage of the total. What does this all mean? Sadly, Sykes doesn’t really explain this at all – perhaps he is saving it for another book? – nevertheless, the reader is left coming up with his or her own ideas of what these results mean. Were the invading peoples not that great in number? Did they not actually settle in such large numbers, as we think?
While Saxons, Vikings, and Celts may not answer every question you have, the facts that it brings to light with the irrefutable certainty of DNA evidence are enough to spend many years contemplating. Sykes has even started his own company, Oxford Ancestors (www.oxfordancestors.com), where one can sign up and with a sample can have their DNA traced through ancestors who lived, walked, and breathed thousands of years ago. For those seeking more facts and answers from Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, they should visit www.bloodoftheisles.net.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
gloame's review
5.0
This book was so fascinating!
It's really sort of like a scholarly paper in that it is talking about one big experiment (DNA testing of people in the British Isles) and the results of said experiment, but it's not at all like reading such a paper. The information is presented in a very approachable manner. It's not dry or boring at all, and in fact, I'm now really interested in finding out my own ancestral sequences! What tribe did I come from? I must know!
Fortunately, the researcher, Dr. Bryan Sykes, is also the buy behind the Oxford DNA testing thing where you can send in your cheek swab and pay a couple hundred bucks to have them test it and tell you where you come from.
Christmas wish list = sorted.
It's really sort of like a scholarly paper in that it is talking about one big experiment (DNA testing of people in the British Isles) and the results of said experiment, but it's not at all like reading such a paper. The information is presented in a very approachable manner. It's not dry or boring at all, and in fact, I'm now really interested in finding out my own ancestral sequences! What tribe did I come from? I must know!
Fortunately, the researcher, Dr. Bryan Sykes, is also the buy behind the Oxford DNA testing thing where you can send in your cheek swab and pay a couple hundred bucks to have them test it and tell you where you come from.
Christmas wish list = sorted.
oisin175's review
4.0
Enlightening both from a scientific perspective and from a social perspective. I enjoyed the detours away from the technical scientific aspects, though I was only marginally aware of the uses that DNA can provide in illuminating the lineage of people and a nation.