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Ancient chroniclers, including Julius Caesar himself, made the Druids and their sacred rituals infamous throughout the Western world. But in fact, as Miranda Aldhouse-Green shows in this fascinating book, the Druids' day-to-day lives were far less lurid and much more significant. Exploring the various roles that Druids played in British and Gallic society during the first centuries B.C. and A.D. - not just as priests but as judges, healers, scientists, and power brokers - Aldhouse-Green argues that they were a highly complex, intellectual, and sophisticated group whose influence transcended religion and reached into the realms of secular power and politics. "In this remarkable book the author has combined her intimate knowledge of the classical sources, the archaeological backgroun and anthropological theory to provide a rich and compelling vision of a religious elite who challenged the might of Rome" - Barry Cunliffe.