100 books like The Philosopher and the Druids

By Philip Freeman,

Here are 100 books that The Philosopher and the Druids fans have personally recommended if you like The Philosopher and the Druids. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

Luke Eastwood Author Of The Druid`s Primer

From my list on Druids and Druidry.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a student of Druidry since the mid-1990s and I have also had a passion for history and mythology since I received a children’s version of “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” when I was around 7 years old. I’ve read pretty much all the major stories and texts in relation to Celtic myth and Druid lore (particularly from Ireland). I have spent the last 20 years studying the remains of Irish Druidism and how to incorporate it into modern practice is a respectful but relevant way.

Luke's book list on Druids and Druidry

Luke Eastwood Why did Luke love this book?

While this draws on many earlier works and is somewhat influenced by romantic ideas of the time (in 1894) it contains much which you would struggle to find elsewhere unless you had access to a huge academic library.

The author gives his personal opinion on the reference material to a large extent, but he is quite explicit in that regard, so even though it is very dated, the reader is well aware of what is stated as pure fact and what is his own interpretation.

An essential work for those with an interest in the Irish form of Druidism and Paganism, which offers a unique insight and perspective long before the Druid revival reached Ireland.

By James Bonwick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1894. Excerpt: ... IRISH GODS. SOME writers, from a jealous regard to the reputation of their ancestors, have been unwilling to acknowledge the idolatry of ancient Erin. They reject the testimony as to images, and decline to accept the record as to heathen deities. Yet it is surely a satisfaction to know that the Highest and Unseen was worshipped at all, though under rude and material symbolism, instead of being unknown and unfelt. If…


Book cover of The Book of Druidry

Luke Eastwood Author Of The Druid`s Primer

From my list on Druids and Druidry.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a student of Druidry since the mid-1990s and I have also had a passion for history and mythology since I received a children’s version of “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” when I was around 7 years old. I’ve read pretty much all the major stories and texts in relation to Celtic myth and Druid lore (particularly from Ireland). I have spent the last 20 years studying the remains of Irish Druidism and how to incorporate it into modern practice is a respectful but relevant way.

Luke's book list on Druids and Druidry

Luke Eastwood Why did Luke love this book?

Written by the first Chosen Chief and founder of the Order Of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD), it was published posthumously in 1990 from lost work rediscovered in 1984.

Based on remains of British or Brythonic Druidism combined with texts from the Druidic revival of the 18th century onwards and the author’s own ideas and research, it is one of the most valuable and practical texts of the modern Druidic path.

It is not an easy book to read, written in a rather academic and haughty style, but still it is well worth the effort of reading.

By Ross Nichols,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Book of Druidry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Comprehensive survey of the Druids from their earliest history to the current renaissance.

The book includes:

Druidic ideas and philosophy
* The relation with Arthur, Taliesin and the Grail
* The relationship of druidic teachings to sacred sites
* Descriptions of druidic ritual


Book cover of The Religion of the Ancient Celts

Luke Eastwood Author Of The Druid`s Primer

From my list on Druids and Druidry.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a student of Druidry since the mid-1990s and I have also had a passion for history and mythology since I received a children’s version of “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” when I was around 7 years old. I’ve read pretty much all the major stories and texts in relation to Celtic myth and Druid lore (particularly from Ireland). I have spent the last 20 years studying the remains of Irish Druidism and how to incorporate it into modern practice is a respectful but relevant way.

Luke's book list on Druids and Druidry

Luke Eastwood Why did Luke love this book?

Another golden oldie (from 1911) but seriously, most of the older books were written with a level of seriousness, diligence, and rigorousness that is sadly lacking in many of the modern books on Druidism – which I find frequently regurgitate or recapitulate fairly recent earlier books from the mid-late 20th century, often without delving into the original source material.

This book, again, is not exclusively about Druids but more generally about the religious culture of the Celts across Gaul, Britain, and Ireland. Even so, it is an immensely informative book, albeit somewhat difficult to read because of the fairly archaic style of the writing. As with other somewhat challenging books – the pay-off is certainly more than worth the effort.

By J A MacCulloch,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Religion of the Ancient Celts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been…


Book cover of Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars

Luke Eastwood Author Of The Druid`s Primer

From my list on Druids and Druidry.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a student of Druidry since the mid-1990s and I have also had a passion for history and mythology since I received a children’s version of “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” when I was around 7 years old. I’ve read pretty much all the major stories and texts in relation to Celtic myth and Druid lore (particularly from Ireland). I have spent the last 20 years studying the remains of Irish Druidism and how to incorporate it into modern practice is a respectful but relevant way.

Luke's book list on Druids and Druidry

Luke Eastwood Why did Luke love this book?

First published in 1893 it traces the history of the Druidic and Bardic schools across Ireland in the pre-Christian era, through the arrival of St. Patrick and into the Monastic Celtic Christian period, giving a unique insight into this time before the Normans brought ecclesiastical Roman Catholicism with them.

It was a lucky find at the old bookshop at the Hill of Tara. Although it is not specifically about Druids it offers great insights into the schooling and learning of the Pagan and medieval Irish before the collapse of the Gaelic civilisation in Ireland. There is nothing else quite like this in existence, that I know of.

By John Healy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. In the following pages it has been the author’s purpose to give a full and accurate, but at the same time, as he hopes, a popular account of the Schools and Scholars of Ancient Ireland. It is a subject about which much is talked, but little is known, and even that little…


Book cover of Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries

Marianne C. Bohr Author Of The Twenty: One Woman's Trek Across Corsica on the GR20 Trail

From my list on by women about outdoor adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

I married my high school sweetheart and travel partner, and followed my own advice to do graduate work, and started my career working for the French National Railroad in New York City, mapping itineraries for travelers to Europe. Travel means the world to me, and if I don’t have a trip on the horizon, I feel aimless and untethered. I worked in book publishing for 30 years and dropped out of the corporate rat race to take a gap year abroad. I wrote about our “Senior year abroad” in my first book Gap Year Girl. I returned to the US to teach middle school French and organize student trips to France. 

Marianne's book list on by women about outdoor adventure

Marianne C. Bohr Why did Marianne love this book?

For readers with wanderlust who long to hit the road, Gap Year Girl is a pleasure to read.

It is the author’s travel adventure memoir about how she and her husband, late Baby Boomers, retraced their backpacking travels abroad from much earlier years. Bohr describes what it’s like to kiss your job goodbye, sell your possessions, pack your bags, and take off on a quest for adventure.

Readers will be intrigued and inspired by this account of a couple’s experiences on an unconventional, past-the-blush-of-youth quest. Bohr blends the details of travel, culture, and history with humor and the intimacy of her life.

She shares that seven weeks into their journey, homesickness hit them hard in a cold, ancient village in southwestern France, but they rallied and went on to continue their adventure. 

By Marianne C. Bohr,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gap Year Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the 1960s and '70s, thousands of baby boomers strapped packs to their backs and flocked to Europe, wandering the continent on missions of self-discovery. Many of these boomers still dream of "going back"-of once again cutting themselves free and revisiting the places they encountered in their youth, recapturing what was, and creating fresh memories along the way. Marianne Bohr and her husband, Joe, did just that.

In Gap Year Girl, Bohr describes what it's like to kiss your job good-bye, sell your worldly possessions, pack your bags, and take off on a quest for adventure. Page by page, she…


Book cover of The Innocents Abroad

Alan Pell Crawford Author Of This Fierce People: The Untold Story of America's Revolutionary War in the South

From my list on surviving an American presidential election.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a journalist who has written books on American history for the general reader but not an academic historian or specialist, though I have the utmost respect for both. I like to think I have an independent mind and that I look for ideas that challenge conventional wisdom but are rooted in good sense and critical intelligence. The books I have recommended here reflect this temperament and, I believe, an innate sense of the comic and absurd. These are desperately needed at a time when people take themselves much too seriously—as in a presidential election year. 

Alan's book list on surviving an American presidential election

Alan Pell Crawford Why did Alan love this book?

I love this book because it might be the quintessential American book. Mark Twain brings an American perspective to his European travels that has, to my mind, never been matched.

His pose—the comic character he creates—is at once naïve and shrewdly intelligent, penetrating in his take on Europe and the Middle East. I love this book, but I also love Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. With Mark Twain, you can’t go wrong. 

By Mark Twain,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Innocents Abroad as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A beautiful edition with the formatting and all 234 images from the original first edition published in 1869. The cover is from an Antonio Joli painting of Rome. Use Amazon's Lookinside feature to compare this edition with others. You'll be impressed by the differences. Don't be fooled by other versions that have no illustrations or contain very small print. Reading our edition will make you feel that you are back traveling the Mediterranean with Mark. If you like our book, be sure to leave a review!

Published under the full name The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress, this…


Book cover of Europe on 5 Wrong Turns a Day: One Man, Eight Countries, One Vintage Travel Guide

Mary-Lou Weisman Author Of Traveling While Married

From my list on travel memoirs that will both inform and amuse you.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a kid, “someplace else” has always looked good to me. I turned that passion into a career. I have been a travel writer for the New York Times and travel commenter for Public Radio International. Three of my published books are humorous travel memoirs. I’ve written books about what’s funny when your destination is middle age, the hilarious thrills and disasters that befall you when you’re pretending to be French in Provence, and the gender problems that arise when traveling while married. Bragging is a vice I usually avoid, but I can’t resist telling you that reviewers of my travel books have compared my humor to that of the late Erma Bombeck. I also enjoy giving credit to other successful, amusing humor writers.

Mary-Lou's book list on travel memoirs that will both inform and amuse you

Mary-Lou Weisman Why did Mary-Lou love this book?

The author gets ahold of his mother’s copy of Frommer's 1967 Europe on Five Dollars a Day and uses it as his basis for a contemporary visit. Like his mother, I, too, did the tour in 1967. I was curious to see what had happened to Europe and to my view of it. Of course, most of the restaurants no longer exist, and $5 dollars a day was more like $50 dollars a day, but this travel memoir is full of funny, disastrous, and touching adventures. I admit to a fondness for funny disasters.

By Doug Mack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Europe on 5 Wrong Turns a Day as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Prepare to Get Lost on the Beaten Path...

When Doug Mack picked up a 1963 edition of Europe on Five Dollars a Day, he stumbled on an inspired idea: to boldly go where millions have gone before, relying only on the advice of a travel guide that's nearly a half century out-of-date. Add to the mix his mother's much- documented grand tour through Europe in the late 1960s, and the result is a funny and fascinating journey into a new (old) world, and a disarming look at the ways the classic tourist experience has changed- and has not-in the last…


Book cover of Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry

Robin Esrock Author Of The Great Global Bucket List

From my list on inspiring your bucket list travels.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a travel writer, author, broadcaster, speaker, and producer, I’ve reported from over 100 countries on 7 continents for major print and digital publications worldwide and networks like National Geographic and Travel Channel.  I kicked off my career with a solo, 12-month round-the-world backpacking adventure, largely inspired by the formative books I read below. Embracing the world with insatiable curiosity, an open heart, an open mind, a sense of humour, and enthusiasm to share my stories clearly resonated. Here I am, two decades later, author of a half-dozen bestselling books that focus on my own eclectic travels, which will hopefully inspire others as these books inspired me.  

Robin's book list on inspiring your bucket list travels

Robin Esrock Why did Robin love this book?

Mass tourism is a funny world, and occasionally it deserves to be skewered with a wink and a smile. This tongue-in-cheek satire is so sharp I continue to cut my fingers on its pages, instantly recognizing the absurdity of some of my own adventures in Eastern and Central Europe.

This Spinal Tap for guidebooks looks at fictional hotels, towns, food, and activities. There are also follow-up guidebooks, one that roasts a mythical Southeast Asian country in a similar fashion and another that pokes fun at a fictional yet familiar country in Latin America.

Veteran travellers, and especially backpackers, will have a riot. 

By Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Rob Sitch

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Molvania as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Presents description of imaginary country in Eastern Europe, with humorous travel tips on hotels, eating out, and visiting fictitious tourist sites.


Book cover of Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe

David Baboulene Author Of Ocean Boulevard

From my list on humorous travel that also deliver great stories.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up, I only read humour, and it was my passion to write humour. When I was lucky enough to find myself travelling the world and working on cargo ships, the source material presented itself, and I took my chance. Publishers were wary of the crudity inherent to a sailor’s life, so I present myself as if P.G. Wodehouse himself had gone to sea. I am the butt of all the pranks, and horrified by what I see around me. So I was able to write a book that addresses the truth of a shipboard life… but leaves the suggested extremes to your imagination!

David's book list on humorous travel that also deliver great stories

David Baboulene Why did David love this book?

I met Bill Bryson once, and we subsequently exchanged a few letters.

‘Knowing him’ gave an extra dimension to his writing and humour, because he’s acerbic with the pen and yet so gentle and shy as a person.

When we met, he was giving a talk on the importance of hedgerows in our ‘Green and Pleasant Land’, and he has always inspired me to appreciate the privilege of being British (He is American).

Sometimes it can be hard to remember..! One thing is for sure: British humour is unique, and I will never fail to appreciate that. Neither Here Nor There was the first Bryson I read, but you could pick any of his travel works.

He’s got such a wonderful style and humour, you can’t really go wrong.

By Bill Bryson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Neither Here Nor There as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bill Bryson's first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In Neither Here nor There he brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before.

Whether braving the homicidal motorists of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and…


Book cover of Cows Can't Jump

Katherine Black Author Of Leverage

From my list on dark and twisted psychological thrillers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been writing for a long time and reading even longer. I enjoy intelligent books that are well written—not overwritten or over punctuated—and as we all do both of those, I mean that it’s been well edited. And I understand the struggle which is why four of my five choices are from indie authors like myself.

Katherine's book list on dark and twisted psychological thrillers

Katherine Black Why did Katherine love this book?

Winner of the Spotlight First Novel Prize. The first thing to mention is that this is a debut novel. I tend to avoid them, the writing is usually sloppy, and it takes a few books for authors to learn the craft and get a feel for their style and voice. 

That is not the case with this book. The writing is excellent. This writing is up there at bestseller standard. I didn’t find a single typo or error in the book, not something I can say for most of the top names. I found half a dozen in the last King book I read. Browne is already at the top of his game. The story is sweet, the central character is an absolute tool, but you can’t help but love him, and you want the book to end well for him. He’s a character to root for.

I sometimes smile,…

By Philip Bowne,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cows Can't Jump as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How far would you go for love?

Winner of the Spotlight First Novel prize, Philip Bowne's debut novel is an explosive coming-of-age odyssey. 18-year-old Billy is desperate to leave home. He's working the ultimate dead-end job as a grave-digger. His Grandad's engaged to a woman half his age, his Dad's become obsessed with boxing, and his Mum's certainly having an affair. Everything is changing, and Billy hates it.

Meeting the older, mysterious Eva, though, changes everything. She's passionate about Russian literature, Gary Numan, windfarms and chai tea, and Billy gambles everything for a chance to be with her. His scramble…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Europe, druids, and the Celts?

Europe 952 books
Druids 25 books
The Celts 31 books