Blood of the Isles

Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History by Bryan Sykes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blood of the Isles


Tracking genes is the next frontier in tracking the history of a people. Through the genetic mutations you can tell how long ago a groups clan mother came into existence as well as the clan father. Were talking thousands of years ago, if not millions. By tracking the genes you can tell who invaded a land , whether they settled in peacefully and the journey from where they began to the final point of arrival. It is more accurate then archaeology .

Brian Sykes a , British genetist who studies bone disease has done extensive research on the origins of the populations now inhabiting the British Isles. He tacks the origins of the Irish, Scottish and British..  Using a variety of methods all the way from finding genetic material by drilling the teeth of specimens in tact and then comparing them to the populations the author makes some startling discoveries about the origins of the people of the Britsih isles and some of you might be surprised.

One making this study one must bear in mind that there are certain caveats that must be observed when studying a group. The first one is the Gengis Khan effect. Ghengis Khan when he took over an area would murder the entire population of males and then impregnate all the attractive females. This was done no only by GEghis Khan but world world wide. Most of us probably come from descend from some brutal warlord The next thing toi keep in mind is that a groups mythology no matter how fantastical or non sense it may seem does contain a kernel of truth.

Before lauching into discussion on the Genotyps tbhe author discsses some genetic information so you knbow how it is done . He discusses the history of studying blood types and measuring skull types  on the isle.  He gives a good lesson on how genetic information is read. In this work as his previous work he has female matriarch divided into 7 daughers of Eve and the men into 6 patriarch. In the end the ultimat stock is Celtic. The highest percentage of Celt being in Ireland.

Before discussing the Genetic finding for each area on the British Isle he writes a chapter on the History of the area. The next chapter then discusses his sampling methods and finding. I have blown the ending a bit but there is lot more detail that I have left out. Go read the book!


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