Facing the ocean

"It is not often that a new idea enters the world of ancient and medieval history, but in Facing the Ocean Barry Cunliffe presents a fresh approach that will change our view of the European past. After many years of research and fieldwork, he has come to believe that the peoples of Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Spain, Portugal, and Gibraltar all share an identity shaped by thousands of years of living along the Atlantic shore." "Facing the Ocean shows that Celts, Bretons, and Galicians had a closer kinship with seafaring neighbours than with their English, French, and Spanish countrymen. Indeed the very act of living on the edge of the world created a collective consciousness that was, and is still today, specifically 'Atlantic' - an identity that has produced cultures of great inventiveness and works of art of beauty and orginality." "Illustrations bring the evidence to life - from photographs of the hard rocks and promontories of the Atlantic coast to stunning art that retells enthralling legends of lost continents and ocean monsters."--Jacket.