Whispers from Celtic Seas: The True Meanings of Ancient Stories from Northwest Europe by Patrick Nunn

What if the legends of submerged cities, land-making witches and sea-crossing bishops are not mere inventions but echoes of real events? Whispers from Celtic Seas (Reaktion Books, 2026) revisits coastal traditions from the Celtic fringes of northwest Europe, showing how they preserve memories of dramatic environmental change – floods, land loss and shifting shorelines – carried forward through oral storytelling for generations. Drawing on cutting-edge geological and archaeological research, this book recasts these tales not as fantasy, but as historical testimony grounded in lived experience. With clarity and insight, it also brings to life the tellers and collectors of these stories, tracing how oral knowledge endured even as literacy spread. A compelling invitation to listen again to old stories, and to hear what the land and sea remember.

Patrick Nunn is Professor of Geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford (2026–7). His many publications include The Edge of Memory (2018) and Worlds in Shadow (2021).