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Author: Joe England
Publisher:
Published: 2017
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781912109715
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor most of the nineteenth century Merthyr Tydfil was the largest urban settlement Wales had ever seen. It was the Iron Capital of the world. It was, as the title of Merthyr native Joe England's magnificent history proclaims, The Crucible of Modern Wales.
Author: Joe England
Publisher: Parthian
Published: 2020-11
Total Pages: 400
ISBN-13: 9781913640057
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor most of the nineteenth century Merthyr Tydfil was the largest urban settlement Wales had ever seen. Merthyr, The Crucible of Modern Wales, looks at Merthyr's rise to prominence and how it foretold the economic and social transformation of Welsh history. It was Merthyr, from the armed rising of 1831 to the electoral radicalism of 1868 and 1900, which led the way towards democracy and civic betterment in the teeth of material degradation and high-handed repression. This volume brings the whole epic history of Merthyr, from 1760 to 1912, into the focus of a fresh and utterly convincing perspective. For Modern Wales, see Merthyr, in a book which is a triumph of readability and intellectual passion.
Author: Joe England
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2019-08-15
Total Pages: 304
ISBN-13: 1912109859
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor most of the nineteenth century, Merthyr Tydfil was the largest urban settlement Wales had ever seen. It was the Iron Capital of the world. It was, as the title of Merthyr native Joe England's magnificent history proclaims, the Crucible of Modern Wales. It was Merthyr that foretold the economic and social transformation of Welsh life and Merthyr that excited the cultural and political furore which was to revolutionize industry and society throughout the iron and coal townships of South Wales. It was Merthyr, from the armed rising of 1831 to the electoral radicalism of 1868 and 1900, that led the way towards democracy and civic advancement in the face of material degradation and high-handed repression. But, as Joe England underlines in a magisterial combination of scholarly synthesis and original research, it is Merthyr's small middle class of commerce, trade and the professions that must be given much of the credit for reformation, even amongst the titanic clashes between the Iron masters and their workers, as it wrought a measure of control for a politics which would tackle the core concerns of health, welfare, and security. This volume brings the whole epic history of Merthyr, from 1760 no 1912, into the focus of a fresh and utterly convincing perspective. For Modern Wales, see Merthyr, in a book which is a triumph of intellectual passion.
Author: Sam Adams
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2023-04-07
Total Pages: 541
ISBN-13: 1914595084
DOWNLOAD EBOOK'Letters from Wales stands alone as an invaluable guide to Welsh writing.' – Sam Young, Wales Arts Review 'In these columns, as impressive for their depth as they are for their intellectual breadth, Adams analyses the work of acclaimed Welsh writers ... with scholarly panache' – Joshua Rees, Buzz Magazine 'illuminating and entertaining' – Jon Gower, Nation.Cymru Since 1996, Sam Adams's 'Letter from Wales' column has been appearing in PN Review, one of the most highly-regarded UK poetry magazines, offering insight and appreciation of Welsh writing, culture and history. This landmark volume collects these letters – a quarter century of work – and offers one of the most unique, independent and passionate critical voices on the writing and cultural output of Wales during this period. Here you will find erudite appreciations of the work of a wide range of recent and contemporary Welsh writers from Gillian Clarke to Roland Mathias, RS Thomas to Rhian Edwards. Alongside this, Adams offers us lyric essays to Welsh history, and clear-eyed examinations of the institutions of Welsh culture. Collected for the first time in this volume, the 'letters' are among the most significant and sustained attempts during this period to present Welsh writing to an audience throughout the UK and beyond.
Author: Huw Thomas
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2023-05-08
Total Pages: 188
ISBN-13: 1914595459
DOWNLOAD EBOOK'It's a book which takes its time and really delves into the pivotal moments in Charles' connection with Wales... We are offered a glimpse at a man who has, over the decades, forged both a more formal support to Wales and a more personal warmth for it.' – Emma Schofield, Wales Arts Review 'This is a highly readable and lively book, full of anecdote and character... Thomas needs to be praised for producing a well-written and pacy book on a controversial subject which is neither hatchet job nor fawning tribute.' – Myfanwy Alexander, Nation.Cymru Before Charles became King, he was Prince of Wales. It was a role he took more seriously than any predecessor of the modern British monarchy. From the moment he was created Prince of Wales in 1958 until his accession to the throne, Charles's approach to the role was to serve Wales and to promote Welsh life. But what impact has he had on the country, and what impression did the Welsh leave on him? This book examines the relationship that the Prince nurtured with a nation that meant much more to him than an honorary title. Dozens of interviews have helped Huw Thomas to unearth the untold stories of Charles's work in Wales, alongside the key role he has taken in developing industry, culture and conservation. For a man who has spent almost a lifetime waiting to be King, Huw Thomas reveals how Wales prepared Charles for the crown. Despite his initial reluctance to come to Wales as a student, his time spent learning the history and language of the Welsh at Aberystwyth in the 1960s fostered a passionate commitment to the nation. Wales has not always returned the compliment, with popular protests and more subtle snubs to his involvement in Welsh affairs. And yet those who have worked with him, and who call him a friend, cite a remarkable ability to make a difference without making a fuss. As a diplomat he is credited with bringing major employers to south Wales, offering jobs to a workforce that had been decimated by the collapse of the coal industry. As a cultural ambassador he revived royal patronage for the arts in Wales and sponsored the finest performers to emerge from the land of song. And as a champion of the natural environment, he has backed the farmers and conservationists who are nurturing the Welsh countryside, not least by employing traditional crafts to create the first royal home in Wales for 400 years.
Author: Kirsti Bohata
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2021-10-21
Total Pages: 628
ISBN-13: 1913640256
DOWNLOAD EBOOKQUEER SQUARE MILE: Queer Short Stories from Wales Edited by Kirsti Bohata, Mihangel Morgan and Huw Osborne This ground-breaking volume makes visible a long and diverse tradition of queer writing from Wales. Spanning genres from ghost stories and science fiction to industrial literature and surrealist modernism, these are stories of love, loss and transformation. In these stories gender refuses to be fixed: a dashing travelling companion is not quite who he seems in the intimate darkness of a mail coach, a girl on the cusp of adulthood gamely takes her father's place as head of the house, and an actor and patron are caught up in dangerous game-playing. In the more fantastical tales there are talking rats, flirtations with fascism, and escape from a post-virus 'utopia'. These are stories of sexual awakening, coming out and redefining one's place in the world. Release and a certain heady license may be found in the distant cities of Europe or north Africa, but the stories are for the most part located in familiar Welsh settings – a schoolroom, a provincial town, a mining village, a tourist resort, a sacred island. The intensity of desire, whether overt, playful, or coded, makes this a rich and often surprising collection that reimagines what being queer and Welsh has meant in different times and places. The first anthology of its kind in Wales, which finally sheds light on a largely hidden queer cultural history with the careful selection of over 40 short stories (1837-2018). New translations of Kate Roberts, Mihangel Morgan, Jane Edwards, Pennar Davies and Dylan Huw make available their compelling stories for the first time to a non-Welsh speaking readership. Previously unpublished works by writers such as Margiad Evans and Ken Etheridge appear alongside better known favourites.
Author: Dan Evans
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2021-09-01
Total Pages: 264
ISBN-13: 1914595041
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book argues for a new Welsh Way, one that is truly radical and transformational. A call for a political engagement that will create real opportunity for change. Neoliberalism has firmly taken hold in Wales. The 'clear red water' is darkening. The wounds of poverty, inequality, and disengagement, far from being healed, have worsened. Child poverty has reached epidemic levels: the worst in the UK. Educational attainment remains stubbornly low, particularly in deprived communities. Prison population rates are among the highest in Europe. Unemployment remains stubbornly high. House prices are rising, with the private rented sector lining the pockets of an ever-increasing number of private landlords. Minority groups are consistently marginalised. All this is not to mention the devastatingly disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on working class communities. The Welsh Way interrogates neoliberalism's grasp on Welsh life. It challenges the lazy claims about the 'successes' of devolution, fabricated by Welsh politicians and regurgitated within a tepid, attenuated public sphere. These wide-ranging essays examine the manifold ways in which neoliberalism now permeates all areas of Welsh culture, politics and society. They also look to a wider world, to the global trends and tendencies that have given shape to Welsh life today. Together, they encourage us to imagine, and demand, another Welsh future.
Author: Gwynoro Jones
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2024-08-01
Total Pages: 221
ISBN-13: 1917140355
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"These were events which prefigured and did much to shape the political battles of the last half century, the devolution half century in Wales. They shaped the non-nationalist, but distinctive Welsh social democratic preferences of the last sixty years. For anyone interested in the formative moments of today's Wales, this is both essential and highly entertaining reading." – Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales 2018-2024 It was a period of Welsh politics that has become etched in the collective memory. The rise of a Welsh independence movement and the first Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament. The Labour Party searching for a way forward in a political climate that was riven with dissension and eventual rancour. It was a fight for social democracy against the centralised power of the British state. The first battlefield was Carmarthen and the protagonists were Gwynfor Evans, the leader of Plaid Cymru and the young Labour hopeful Gwynoro Jones. Their rivalry lasted throughout the Seventies. They fought three elections and on one occasion the result was decided by just three votes. This book tells the story of a political rivalry which was also very personal. It was a local confrontation that drew on national battlelines. It was about Carmarthen and Wales. Both men had their vision of the Wales they wanted to fight for. These pages unfold the story from Gwynoro Jones' perspective for the first time, in an attempt to redress the imbalance of Gwynfor Evans' story dominating the narrative for so long. Drawing on an extensive archive, collected at the time, Gwynoro shows how the two fought their politics in the newspapers of the day and through speeches on constituency public platforms, where they argue about the Welsh language and devolution, Europe and agriculture. But they only ever actually met once. Gwynoro also reflects on how he views those turbulent years today. Through their wranglings, a picture is also painted of Welsh politics in the decade that led up to the referendum on devolution in 1979, as Plaid and Labour searched for a way forward. And ultimately, a generation later, to the creation of a parliament for Wales.
Author: Joe England
Publisher: Parthian Books
Published: 2024-08-01
Total Pages: 167
ISBN-13: 1917140290
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDevolved governments have given Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland confidence and control over policy areas for over two decades. But their powers came into focus during Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to questions about the economy and control of funds across the UK. Now Joe England explores the possible constitutional meltdown of a divided UK and its consequences, reflecting on Wales's position as the poorest nation of all. As a constitutional crisis looms, this book contemplates a reimagined Wales and what that would mean for its people. This is the story of how Wales reached an economic and constitutional crossroads and the choices that must now be made.
Author: Huw Pryce
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2022-05-05
Total Pages: 507
ISBN-13: 0198746032
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe first book to explore how the history of Wales and the Welsh has been written over the past fifteen hundred years, 'Writing Welsh History' analyses and contextualizes historical writing, from Gildas in the sixth century to recent global approaches, to open new perspectives both on the history of Wales and on understandings of Wales and the Welsh.
