A History of Pagan Europe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415091365 ISBN 13: 9780415091367

Publisher: Routledge, 1995

The first comprehensive study of its kind, this fully illustrated book establishes Paganism as a persistent force in European history with a profound influence on modern thinking.

From the serpent goddesses of ancient Crete to modern nature-worship and the restoration of the indigenous religions of eastern Europe, this wide-ranging book offers a rewarding new perspective of European history.

In this definitive study, Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick draw together the fragmented sources of Europe's native religions and establish the coherence and continuity of the Pagan world vision. Exploring Paganism as it developed from the ancient world through the Celtic and Germanic periods, the authors finally appraise modern Paganism and its apparent causes as well as addressing feminist spirituality, the heritage movement, nature-worship and `deep' ecology

This innovative and comprehensive history of European Paganism will provide a stimulating, reliable guide to this popular dimension of religious culture for the academic and the general reader alike.

Review:

This is a book that was recommended to me, and I have to admit that it is one of the best scholarly texts on the history of European Pagan religions. Jones and Pennick trace the evolution of Pagan religions in Greece and Rome, the religions of the Celts, Paganism in Germany and the Balkans, and the current Pagan revival. Filled with concise information and illustrations which add to the content rather than distracting from it, I'm sure I'll be referring to this book again in the future.

From the Back Cover:

In this definitive study, Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick draw together the fragmented sources of Europe's native religions and establish the coherence and continuity of the Pagan world vision. Challenging a traditional, Christian perspective of history, the authors argue that the modern world owes to ancient Paganism its pluralistic tolerance, its love of the arts and its respect for empirical method. Exploring Paganism as it developed from the ancient world, through the Celtic and Germanic periods, the authors finally appraise modern Paganism and its apparent causes. Feminist spirituality, the heritage movement, nature-worship and 'deep' ecology are some of the modern preoccupations which benefit from being examined within the wider context of European Paganism.