Studies in the social history of China and Southeast Asia Book

The historicity of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey is the basis of Iman Wilken's "Where Troy Once Stood". The author's theory that the Trojan War took place in England between Celts is both an intriguing revisionist theory as well as good material for authors looking for a good story.

The basic premise of the book is Wilken first rejecting the concise opinion that Troy as located in Anatolia, evening using ancient sources to help support his conclusion. Though Wilken's believes the Trojan War did take place and examined Homer's text to find Troy's location, both by descriptions and etymology to find Troy in the Gog Magog Hills in Cambridgeshire, England. Wilken's then places gives locations for all the combatants listed in the Iliad amongst the Celtic peoples of Western Europe from Scandinavia down to southern Spain. Based off his locations of the Iliad, Wilken's catalogues Odysseus' journey around the shores of Western European and throughout the Atlantic before arriving home in Spain. However, Wilken's proposes that the Odyssey was not only a story of a warrior king, but a map for Celtic seafarers to sail for recourses in Africa and the Caribbean as well as tool for initiates into the 'Mysteries' of the Celtic Druids.

While this overall theory based on Homer's epic poems is though-provoking, the overall book is undermined by how Wilken presents his material. Whatever one thinks of the theory this is a hard book to read because there is no flow from point-to-point throughout the text. Wilken's enthusiasm for his theory is identifiable in the text mainly because he likes to insert conclusions and further theories randomly whenever something that is connected with them is presented in the text. After long periods of logical progression, Wilkens would started jumping from point-to-point before taking up his logical process again then incorporating the random points he talked about earlier into the narrative. Wilken's never fully explains some of his conclusions or provides supporting evidence for some of his assertions, his view of who the Phoenicians were was the biggest in my mind. Finally Wilkens presents numerous maps and lists of his etymology evidence as part of his main text instead of as a large appendix, which makes the last quarter of the book a slog.

In the end the reader must judge Wilken's theory for themselves and as stated in my introductory paragraph, it provides good story material like Clive Cussler's "Trojan Odyssey". However anyone who wants to read this book for either the revisionist theory or for story inspiration should keep in mind the book's winding journey. Wilken's published a revised edition of "Where Troy Once Stood" and maybe that edition (2009) presents the material better, however based on the chapter listings I'm doubtful. So if you're interested in reading this book, you've been warned.