History Unlimited Bookshop: The Principality of Wales.

Bookshop — Wales

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The Centuries of Conflict

Norman penetration of North and South Wales was remarkably rapid, aided at least in part by intermarriage between Norman and Welsh aristocracies. The resulting Marcher baronies of the Welsh borders and South Wales formed almost a state within a state, between the growing centralisation of the English nation and the fragmented princedoms of the Welsh interior. Native resistance was frequently formidable but seldom concerted: local considerations were often more important than the nationalist aspirations of ambitious overlords; and alliances were dictated by feudal allegiances and kin-ties. So that Welsh fought against Welsh alongside the successive Franco-English dynasties that sought to stabilise their western land border on their own terms.

A Short History of Wales / A H Dodd
A vivid picture of Welsh life from the earliest times to the 20th century, from the late Professor of History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

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A History of Wales / Sir J E Lloyd / Currently Unavailable
This very readable history seems, sadly, to be unavailable. We will keep checking!

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The Welsh Wars of Independence / David Moore
A modern re-evaluation of a thousand years of Welsh history. The non-specialist will find the early chapters something of a morass of proper names, genealogical detail and confusing time-lines, but the mists begin to clear around the time of Edward I. Readers may find themselves drawn to the conclusion that centuries of turmoil were caused, at least in part, by the attempts of native princes, particularly the princes of Gwynedd, to impose their hegemony on the whole of Wales. The frequent result was resistance from the lesser Welsh aristocracy, supported by dynastic and tactical alliances amongst themselves and with marcher lords, the wider Norman barony and successive English monarchs. Discuss.

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Castles of Dyfed / Paul R Davis
Wales has more castles per square mile than any other European country. In South West Wales the bastions of the Marcher barons defended maritime lines of supply or faced the strongholds of native princes. In Pembrokeshire the fortifications of the Landsker line marked (and mark) the linguistic divide between Welshry and Englishry.

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Castles of the Welsh Princes / Paul R Davis
Short monographs on the indigenous defensive architecture of Wales.

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The Mystery of Jack of Kent & The Fate of Owain Glyndwr / Alex Gibson
A heavily laboured attempt at ‘historical detection’. The author sets out to link the career and disappearance of Owain Glyndwr with border folklore, mythic symbolism and speculation on Stone Age religion. Useful, nonetheless, in that it contains an unromanticised summary of Glyndwr’s campaigns, which arguably did more harm to the Welsh than the English and left parts of Wales economically devastated for a hundred years. Discuss.

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The Son of Prophecy: Henry Tudor’s Road to Bosworth / David Rees
An immensely readable account of the culmination of the Wars of the Roses, the deposition of Richard III and the accession of the House of Tudor to the English throne. Highlights the power of Welsh bardic tradition and dynastic alliances as late as the 15th century, while paying less attention to the dubious legitimacy of Henry’s claim or his doubtful descent from Cadwallader. His son, Henry VIII, promulgated the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543 that defined the geographical territory of Wales and joined it to England under the Tudor crown.

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History as Travelogue

Visitors to Wales cannot fail to be impressed by the quality and diversity of its landscape. It is therefore hardly surprising that much that has been written about the Principality and its history has used the landscape and the travelogue format as a springboard.

The Journey Through Wales & The Description of Wales / Giraldus Cambrensis
Gerald of Wales, born at Manorbier in Pembrokeshire, accompanied Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, on his mission to Wales to recruit for the Third Crusade. The Journey and the Description make for a fascinating account of the Principality in the late 12th century. Gerald was an advocate of the separation of the Welsh church from the governance of Canterbury and the establishment of an independent Archbishopric of St. Davids (with himself at the head!). Gerald is reputed to have concocted the Bull Laudabiliter, purported to have been issued by Pope Adrian IV and used by Henry II to justify his invasion of Ireland in 1171.

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Wild Wales / George Borrow
Highly idiosyncratic journal of a walking tour through Wales in the mid-19th century by the author of The Romany Rye.

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Wales: A History / Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
A personal vision of Wales from this much-loved and much-missed writer and broadcaster.

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The Matter of Wales / Jan Morris
Jan Morris’s affectionate ramble through the Welsh landscape and Welsh history.

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Mid Wales Companion / David Bellamy
A useful guide to the hills, valleys and wildlife of mid Wales.

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Local Perspectives

The mountains and valleys of Wales have, until very recent times, restricted communication and created distinctive and fiercely self-aware communities. This fragmentation was very apparent through the more turbulent centuries, and in more recent times through the fascination with the detail of local history. Our selection covers, in one way or another, most of the Principality. We make no apology for giving precedence to our home county of Pembrokeshire! Please note that we have yet to finish cataloguing our substantial library of Welsh material and this section will be expanded in the future.

The Description of Pembrokeshire / George Owen of Henllys

The completion in manuscript of The Description of Pembrokeshire in 1603 was an historical event in its own right. George Owen exemplified two important contemporary trends. He was a member of the native gentry that had emerged in the Tudor period of comparative stability in Wales; and he was a polymath who combined an intimate knowledge of his local county with an obsessive curiosity, a quality that was a driving force of the Elizabethan Rennaissance. In his treatment of history, Owen set out to dispel many of the myths and inventions of medieval writers; and his fascination with genealogy stemmed at least in part from his desire to legitimise his holding of the lordship of Cemaes, based on modern Newport in Pembrokeshire.

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A Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire / Richard Fenton

Richard Fenton was a friend of Burke, Johnson, Goldsmith and Garrick. The stature of his Historical Tour, first published in 1811, is such that all historians of Pembrokeshire and most historians of Wales refer to the work simply as ‘Fenton’. A native of St. Davids, he made extensive studies of Welsh records and literature and explored the whole of Wales, often conducting early (if damaging!) archaeological excavations of barrows and tumuli. At the time of posting this title was out of stock on Amazon, but a search facility for used editions is available.

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The History of Little England Beyond Wales / Edward Laws

Less well known than George Owen of Henllys and Fenton, Edward Laws has, nonetheless, an important place on the roll of the local historians of Wales. Outspoken and filled with the confidence (and Anglo-centric prejudices) of the High Victorian period, Laws published his history in 1888. His book is worth reading for the vigorous prose, even if some aspects of the county’s history have been revised by subsequent writers. Of Emma Hamilton: ‘A lovely girl of indifferent character’.

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That Great Pyrate: Bartholomew Roberts and His Crew / Aubrey Burl

Born in the tiny Pembrokeshire village of Little Newcastle, Black Bart (Barti Ddu) served in the Royal Navy in the early 18th century before taking to piracy. Flamboyant, even foppish, he was credited with taking more than 400 ships off the coasts of Europe, Africa and the Americas, with plunder worth more than 50 million pounds. Unlike the usual stereotype of the pirate, Roberts was a teetotaller who forbade drinking and gambling and encouraged prayer. Following his death in battle, his crew were captured and brought to trial. Fifty-four were hanged and thirty-seven imprisoned after the largest trial for piracy of its time. The author is best known for his work on megalithic monuments: see our Prehistory page.

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Hills and Vales of the Black Mountain District / R Baker-Gabb
Early 20th century description of the Ewyas, Grwyne-fawr and Grwyne-fechan valleys of the South Wales borders.

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Time and the Valley: The Past, Present & Future of the Upper Ogwen

Valley / David Hubback
The Ogwen Valley is the high pass that carried the Roman road (the modern A5) to Anglesey through the mountains of Snowdonia.

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Madocks & The Wonder of Wales / Elizabeth Beazley
The story of William Alexander Madocks, the creation of Tremadog and Porthmadog, and the attempted reclamation of the tidal estuary of Traeth Mawr. Tremadog was an exercise in logical town planning that included a manufactory, shops, inns, a hotel, a market hall and a theatre (where Sheridan is reputed to have appeared in a production of The Rivals). The radical poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was a brief tenant of Madocks’s villa, Tan-yr-allt, before fleeing to Ireland after a real or imagined assassination attempt. An interesting study of an integrated economic development strategy from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. There is nothing new under the sun!

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Shrouded Quays: The Lost Ports of Wales / Aled Eames
Slate, limestone, coal, inshore fishing, boat building — for centuries it seemed that every tiny inlet in Wales was a hive of maritime activity. This little book tracks the decline of the Principality’s relationship with the sea.

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The Lost Houses of Wales / Thomas Lloyd
An illustrated elegy for the ‘big houses’ of Wales lost through neglect or ‘improvement’. The tragedy continues.

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