Over the years doubts have been expressed about the accepted view that the Black Death was caused by bubonic plague. By looking at the evidence of tree-rings and ice cores, Mike Baillie, Professor of Dendrochronology at Queen's University, Belfast, has identified a series of natural catastrophes at the beginning of the fourteenth century, caused by meteor strikes. On the basis of the current scientific evidence and of contemporary accounts of the nature and spread of the disease, he is convinced that the disease was air-borne not carried by rats. This fascinating book reveals the detection that led to this revolutionary conclusion.

The Celtic myths, involving heroic warriors such as Finn and CuChulinn, can be read as simple primitive stories, but closer examination reveals strange descriptions and relationships. The authors of this ground-breaking book argue that all the principal characters are aspects of the one Celtic sky god, Lugh, who was a comet. Against the background of a comet scenario this re-interpretation of about ten key Celtic myths shows how many of the descriptions in the myths fit the appearance of comets. The fact that these comets on occasions produced abrupt environmental changes, that can be traced in the tree-ring and ice-core chronologies, pins the stories to a central reality. With a novel twist this original book confirms the widespread belief that these stories must contain a 'core of truth'.