Before the Vikings, before the Anglo-Saxons, before the Roman Empire, the Celts dominated central and western Europe. Today we might think of the Celts only inhabiting parts of the far west of Europe; Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain. These were the extremities in which their culture lasted longest. They originated in Central Europe and settled as far afield as present day Turkey, Poland, and Italy. From their emergence as an Iron Age people around 800 B.C. to the early centuries A.D., this volume reveals the truth behind the stories of naked warriors, ritual beheadings, druids, magic, and accusations of human sacrifice. The book examines the different tribes, the Hallstatt and La Tene periods, as well as Celtic survival in western Europe, the Gallic Wars, military life, spiritual life, slavery, sexuality, and Celtic art.