The Celtic Holocaust (Hardcore History, #60) by Dan Carlin

The Celtic Holocaust (Hardcore History, #60) Reviews

• 
  Jeremy

  This was very good. Carlin is good at circling round a topic, eyeing it, sizing it up, internalizing it, reaching out in every possible direction to best understand it, then laying it out for you to see in candid analysis and thoughtful digestion. He depicts Julius Caesar in his campaign against the Gauls by transposing it against our postmodern ideas about empire and oppression and insurrection and terrorism/counterterrorism. I came away having thought more deeply on freedom and what it means to me. Interested to delve into more of his work.
  JV
• 
  Pieter Decuyper

  If I asked you to get a piece of paper. Something to write with. To make a numerical list of all the things that you would be willing to die for.
  
  How long is your list? What's on it?
  
  Op deze manier begint Dan Carlin zijn verhaal over de brutale verovering van Gallië door Julius Caesar. Steeds verrassende invalshoeken en soms onverwachte vergelijkingen. Verslavende luisterervaring en goeie opfrissing van 'De Bello Gallico'. Een aanrader voor iedereen die eens een podcast wil proberen!
• 
  Greg

  I used to read a lot of fantasy books. History as told by Dan Carlin is like the fantasy books telling real history.
  
  This is another great one about Celts/Galls fighting Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire about 50 BCE. Even if not everything happened as told (who knows really?), it's still a great story.
  
• 
  J.R.

  AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME.
• 
  connoras

  As this is technically an audiobook-length podcast episode, it's much more informal than an audiobook--more conversational--which I think works well.
  
  A very interesting topic. Listening to The Better Angels of Our Nature only this week, it was mentioned that genocide has happened throughout human history but just hasn't always been seen in the same way as we modern humans see it. I have no doubt the victims saw it exactly as it is, but to the perpetrators, and probably to many other uninvolved parties, it was just good strategy (in the interest of "national security").
  
  Caesar's campaign against the Celts was certainly a genocide - I think it was mentioned at the end that 1 million Celts perished during 9 years of war against the Romans; hyperbole, certainly, as this was reported by Romans, but I'm sure the real figures are still horrifying. His success in the Gallic wars was a springboard to an illustrious military and political career. Would Caesar be a ubiquitous name in military history now if he hadn't slaughtered so many "barbarians"? Who knows. He was part of the First Triumvirate, so probably.
  
  I want to hear more about the Celts. Shame their druids didn't know Wild Shape 😏
• 
  SCDavis

  I'm glad we have some opportunity to rate and review booklength podcasts. I'm giving it a 4 for the interesting things I learned from this account of history. The ample supply of Ceasars own words were stimulating to hear. I especially found the anecdote about the wine being detrimental to the Gaelic strength interesting. The one flaw in it for more was the repetition of words and ideas. If it had been written as a book, I think his descriptions would have been more concise.
• 
  Darjeeling

  Alba gu bràth!
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT92z...
• 
  Kendrick Hardin

  So all of my Dan Carlin reading vanished.
• 
  Russell

  Priceless podcast! Very well done and explains the perspective of both Roman and Celtic viewpoints. Being of Celtic decent, I found this podcast personally touching and familiar. It filled in a lot of the blanks of the history of my people that were previously unknown. This story has played itself out time and time again across many if not all cultures. While it was undoubtedly a holocaust, we're still here so the Romans didn't ultimately succeed. If Celts are in your lineage, this podcast is a must to learn about your ancient culture.
• 
  Melinda

  Love how this guy takes a subject - dissects, discusses it, puts it into context, examines it from every angle - and does this like you are having a conversation together at the dinner table. Its great stuff. Interesting, well researched but not boring and preachy. A really interesting look at this period of history.
• 
  Kevin Potter

  First and foremost, you have to understand Dan Carlin is NOT a historian.
  
  With that understanding, I love everything about this presentation. His facts are accurate (except when he's speculating, but he's very clear about the fact that he's speculating), he's passionate and conversational.
  
  And most importantly (for me), he's not judgemental or squeamish about the alien culture of the Celts.
• 
  Martti

  Dan Carlin continues his series, that shouldn't really be called "a podcast", with a commentary on Caesar's conquest of Gaul using the only account we have of it - Caesar's PR material Commentarii de Bello Gallico (“Commentaries on the Gallic War”).
  
  The Wars began with conflict over the migration of the Helvetii in 58 BC, which drew in neighboring tribes and the Germanic Suebi. By 57 BC, Caesar had resolved to conquer all of Gaul. He led campaigns in the east, where the Nervii almost defeated him. In 56 BC, Caesar defeated the Veneti in a naval battle and took most of northwest Gaul. In 55 BC, Caesar sought to boost his public image. He undertook first-of-their-kind expeditions across the Rhine and the English Channel. Rome hailed Caesar as a hero upon his return from Britain, though he had achieved little beyond landing because his army had been too small. The next year, he returned with a proper army and conquered much of Britain. Tribes rose up on the continent, and the Romans suffered a humiliating defeat. 53 BC saw a brutal pacification campaign. This failed, and Vercingetorix led a revolt in 52 BC. Gallic forces won a notable victory at the Battle of Gergovia, but the Romans' indomitable siege works at the Battle of Alesia crushed the Gallic coalition. [
  wikipedia article]
  
  Alesia, ancient town situated on Mont Auxois, above the present-day village of Alise-Sainte-Reine in the département of Côte d’Or, France.
  
  But Caesar didn't conquer all of Gaul, as we know from the historical documents collected by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo about a small village in the Roman province of Armorica. You know, the villagers who had magic invincibility drink, collected menhirs and roman helmets when they beat the occupiers up ...
  
  
• 
  Shari

  I didn’t realize that Dan’s podcasts are listed as books on Goodreads. They deserve to be, certainly. So I’ll chalk them up. This is my favorite HH podcast (so far). I love the story, the premise, the pacing and the insight. It’s top flight entertainment and amazing history. But Dan is the man as far as I’m concerned. I’ve listened to this specific episode at least 3 times over the years. 10 stars.
• 
  Nick Katenkamp

  A good historical discussion on Julius Caesar's wars in Gaul. Carlin takes the perspective of more modern conflicts between European settlers and native tribes as comparison against Romes wars with a far less civilized Gaul. At the time of these wars though, not nearly as much separated the strength of Gaul and Rome as it would when settlers had guns and natives had bows and arrows and had been decimated by disease. To historians, Gaul stood a reasonable chance to win these wars and Carlin's telling of the conflict gives color to ancient peoples.
• 
  Jose

  I love most of his stuff! For some reason I really struggled to engage with this one. It was a lot of interesting facts but the “plot” just seemed thin or disorganized. Though that may be as he was going off of one primary source (and seemingly the only available source); maybe he’s spoiled his audience by usually having so many varied sources and quotes.
• 
  Thomas

  If you've paid any attention to ancient history, you might've heard of Caesar's conquest of Gaul. What you might not have heard of was the scale of the destruction. It truly was a holocaust. Millions died. It's easy to forget that because it was so long ago. This series of podcasts was definitely worth listening to.
• 
  Sir Badgerly

  A true genocide on a grand scale, yet this book is absolutely fascinating. Couldn’t put it down. Even Caesar (the butcher of Celts) is somehow made admirably clever. And I sympathize very much with the Celts as I have Celtic / Norse roots, but this is not black and white evil painted by fake-rot Hollywood media on a smear campaign, this is real information. Read it! Great job Mr. Carlin!!!
• 
  Noah

  Absolutely fascinating. I love Carlin. He admits he’s not a historian, but he is a journalist, which gives him 2 critical skills to making a fabulous podcast/audiobook: 1) thorough research; 2) the ability to tell a story. As usual, this one is chock-full of Ah-Ha moments, larger than life characters, and a heavy dose of brutal honesty.
• 
  Ahdom

  Dan Carlin tells history like no other. He's entertaining and very informative. This is a story worth telling as well as worth hearing. There is plenty of us out there with Celtic DNA and this will resonate with you. We have a beautiful history and I'm glad Carlin is out telling it.
• 
  Hank Hutton

  4.1/5
  
  This Hardcore History was alright. It was good it’s just not as much to tell so it’s only a one off episode instead of the king 5 parters like some others. Good look into Caesar’s war against the Celts.
• 
  Mega

  Not his best podcast, but certainly an interesting take on the conquering of Gaul by Julius Ceasar
• 
  Stephen Tubbs

  Another informative and entertaining rendition by Dan.
• 
  Josiah Richardson

  Really interesting historical coverage of Julius Caesar and the Gaulic War.
• 
  Heather

  and again....
• 
  Abhi

  Love the way he ends these marathon podcasts.