I grew up with spiritual beliefs adopted from earth-based traditions that floated around the air in my parents' generation. We never had a name for what we believed and were always taught to think that the spirituality of indigenous peoples is to be coveted among those with an earth-based or Pagan bent. Recently I have become interested in more seriously studying the beliefs of various cultures, to understand where our beliefs come from and find appropriate words to describe my own beliefs.

I jumped at the opportunity to review Way of the Druid by Graeme K. Talboys because I live in an area of Central Europe that was once heavily Celtic. The shadows and echos of ancient Celtic beliefs still crop up in folk traditions from time to time. My own background is mixed enough to contain a little Celt here and there as well. So, I came to the book with interest but a little trepidation. It looked like an academic tome and I wasn't sure I had the attention span at the moment, while dealing with toddlers.

It is hard to find time to read these days and it takes a lot to hold my attention. It felt a bit difficult to get through the compact section on history at the beginning of Way of the Druid, but when it was over I realized that it was actually fairly painless as histories go. It managed to summarize the history while shedding light on the academic controversies and problems with evidence when detailing the lives of Druids who specifically didn't write down their beliefs.

After that the book picked up the pace of interest with sections on the Celtic metaphysic, the nature of religion, the history of Druid revivalism and overviews of modern Druid practices, beliefs and traditions. As some other reviewers have mentioned, the book doesn't go into great detail about modern Druid orders or organizations. It isn't dated by a focus on certain groups or events and it is not promoting any particular Druid group or interpretation, which was a great relief to me.

There are controversial matters of academic debate in the book and without going to all the source material, I can't say that the author is correct in all conclusions. However, the work makes a serious attempt at both historical documentation and a solid portrayal of modern Druid traditions, walking a difficult path between being broad enough not to exclude or offend various groups and yet specific enough to make sense.

I found the prose to be concise and readable. There are dry sections. There is no attempt to make history or the discussion of religion theory into somethihng funny or entertaining. The reader is either interested in these topics or the reader isn't. I am interested and I found the theoretical sections as fascinating as the practical parts. The structure was clear and without meandering. I can easily see where I could come back to the book in the future to find specific information through the table of contents and turn to the right section without trouble, even in the parts that describe seemingly amorphous metaphysical concepts.

This book would be useful for those interested in comparative theology, religion, European history and anthropology. It is specifically helpful to anyone who wants to understand modern Druids and may be very helpful to those exploring earth-based spirituality. One thing you will find here that I have found lacking in so many other places is a very clear description of the worldview of Celtic peoples and an understanding of how different these views are from Anglo-Saxon, Classical and Abrahamic concepts. It is also very different from the beliefs of indigenous peoples on other continents. It answered a lot of subtle questions I didn't even know how to ask and helped to patch some holes in my web of understanding, linking the diverse cultures that make up our family and social background.