Just over seven-hundred pages in paperback, this updated narrative spans it all, from prehistory to devolution. Its bulk belies its often remarkable readability. Translated in 1993 by the author from the 1990 Welsh-language edition, with an eleventh chapter added to the 2007 revision, Davies' coverage keeps energy and verve despite an inevitable recital of lots of names, dates, statistics, and data.

This makes it a challenge, naturally, to read straight through-- if with many breaks! Still, as a reference, my copy's filled with notations now. While the lack of footnotes or a bibliography (due to the length of the body of the text already) may discourage researchers slightly, the value of a one-volume, thorough, and accessible work remains inestimable to scholars and a wider audience both.

Davies keeps a winningly low-key presence. As a skilled interpreter, he presents heaps of evidence through which he's sifted the wheat from the chaff. The labor must have been immense. He gives you material, and then steps back to sum it up in a striking phrase now and then, as an experienced lecturer may do. "The nation of the Welsh was conceived on the death-bed of the Roman Empire; it was born in the excitement of the 'Age of Saints' but its infancy was meagre and lonely. Yet, as shall be seen, it would have an exhilarating adolescence." (77) So ends the chapter on the early medieval period-- one of the most difficult to explain based on the least evidence, but a section I found captivating.

Although Davies never explains this directly, he organizes each chapter around the rhetorical device of a triad-- commonly used in old Welsh as a memory aid for bards. While this remains rather subtle, it's a clever nod to the past legacy that sustains the present exploration of what it means to be Welsh, always defined as both the oldest British and, as the terms warp, a "foreigner" in one's own homeland. This challenge remains. The last chapter looks at incomers and how they've transformed "y Gymru Gymraeg"-- the formerly Welsh-speaking heartland. "Pont," a "bridge" program aimed at newcomers to teach them about local culture, rests on a shaky metaphor: "the essence of a bridge is that the piers on either side are of equal strength; that was hardly true of the pier of Englishness and the pier of Welshness." (689)

Speaking of architecture, many tourists today, along with the "heritage industry," romanticize old fortifications. Davies, typically, balances his judgment. "The castles can be considered to be shameful memorials to the subjugation of the Welsh-- 'the magnificent badges of our subjection' as Thomas Pennant put it. Yet, when it is considered that the medieval military architect's science and art at the height of their development were necessary to ensure that subjection, the castles may be seen as a tribute to the tenacity of the resistance of the Welsh, as eloquent testimony to the immensity of the task of uprooting from Wales the rule of the Welsh." (167)

This exemplifies the depth of this study. Davies cites a telling phrase from a venerable scholar two hundred years previous to him. He acknowledges its truth, while circling around it for a fresh perspective that confirms its necessity while directing our attention to its opposite, or complimentary in more peaceful times, corollary. And, he strives for fair-mindedness rather than jingoism or revisionism.

For such legends and identities last long in Wales. Treating a period of tranquility within an often fractious later medieval period of increasingly English-inflicted domination, Davies notes how myths played a dual role in exacerbating wrath and reconciling defeat. Myths "were a cry against the extinction of identity and against the tyranny of fact." (180)

Later, Davies relates the gradual capitulation to imperial rule, and the often enthusiastic participation by the Welsh in the colonial enterprises at home and abroad. Imbued with Non-Conformist and even pacifist Christian tendencies, the Welsh proved rather an anomaly in more recent centuries. Their literacy rates soared as the Bible was translated into the people's native tongue, and this education prepared them better than other Celts, perhaps, to face the assaults of modernity and industrialization that kept many Welsh at home rather than forcing them to emigrate. So many that at one point about half of all the workers in Wales directly or indirectly depended on King Coal. He sums up the change: "In Merthyr, even a labourer owned a watch." (340)

The century of mining domination is introduced by a particularly masterful seventh chapter that ties together dozens of threads into a rich tapestry of rebellion, technology, language, worship, and politics in the early 1800s. While I found myself a bit glazed by the subsequent treatment of Gladstone and Liberals-- the book here as in sections closer to our times does get heavily weighed down by parliamentarian election results and inter-party contentions-- I was roused by the chapter on the early 20th century. Davies seems to revive and his pace quickens.

Radicalism and Christian values contended and co-existed in complex fashions in modern times. Conservatism influenced the nature of the language movement, as advocates sometimes argued that Cymraeg shielded its speakers from harmful foreign ideas. Others urged anglicization as a remedy for poverty and a charm for wealth. Unlike Ireland, the factions for independence by violent means were few, and generally the Welsh have accepted their position, Davies charts, within a kingdom as a principality, rather than as a polity demanding separation by language or ideology. Here, Davies seems to align with Gwyn A. Williams, whose "When Was Wales?" (1983; reviewed by me on Amazon last month) sets out a similar understanding.

Of course, whereas Williams concluded in the first term of Thatcher, Davies continues the saga through the collapse of mining, the rise to nearly half (as of 2003) of all births being out of wedlock, and the increasing visibility of Welsh-language media and English-language usage. He contrasts in the last chapter many ramifications of the narrow decision to accept in 1997 a degree of limited self-rule that was trounced in 1979. He leaves us with a survey of a more diverse, less Welsh-Wales-centered constituency in this region. One where the areas nearest the borders hold most of its people, often in defiance of stereotypes peddled by the Welsh themselves, it's an intriguingly perplexing realm. It's the oldest remaining bastion of Britishness, one marginalized, determined, and always, it seems, somehow declining while reviving.

This is an extremely well written and thoroughly researched book. As usual, John Davies writes in a style which holds your interest while exploring a wide (sometimes vast) area of historical subject matters. Other countries should be so lucky to have such interesting, competent and even-handed scholars writing their histories. Highly recommnded.

Well written and well researched. It is an exhaustive history that will not exhaust you. I am reading it for general interest and find it hard to put down.

John Davies covers a lot of territory (in terms of time, if not in space) in his "A History of Wales", originally published (1990) in Welsh as "Hanes Cymru". This will probably stand as the definitive general history of this fascinating country for years to come.

Beginning with the earliest evidence for human occupation of Wales, Davies brings us up to the end of the 1980s. Each of his ten chapters covers a particular time period, and each chapter title features three place names that represent, and figure into, the theme of that chapter/period. Davies touches on nearly every aspect of Welsh history--the political, the social, and the cultural. If some themes garner less attention than others, that is to be expected in a survey of this kind. One theme, of course, dominates this volume (as it should), and that is the relationship between the Welsh and their much more populous English neighbors to the east. That the Welsh were able to resist English domination for so long is miraculous; despite eventual English hegemony, the Welsh have managed to preserve their language, while over the past century there has been a revival of Welsh culture.

The writing is clear and concise, a testament to Davies' skill as both writer and translator. Davies has included a wealth of maps and graphs to illustrate many of his themes. If I have one complaint about "A History of Wales" it is the complete absence of photographs and other illustrations that would have benefited Davies' narrative immensely. That being said, however, this is a fine introduction to a part of the British Isles that we in the US hear very little about. Four and a half stars.

Even in the great 'Celtic revival' of the past generation, where the cultures of the Celtic fringes of Britain and continental Europe have re-exerted themselves in various political and non-political ways, the Welsh revival has been late in coming, and a little less forceful in affect and event.

Perhaps history is to blame here -- the Welsh have been only marginally protected by geography; the mountainous area was difficult terrain to conquer, but the supply lines to those mountains were relatively easy to maintain and sustain, unlike the trek to the northern reaches of Scotland or crossing the sea into Ireland, areas that (however much English history might want to contradict this statement) never were completely conquered and subdued, remaining under the hegemony but outside the total control of Londinium/London from Roman times to the recent past. Wales was never so fortunate. Indeed, it is a miracle that the Welsh survive. The Scots lost land, language and independence, but retained administrative and legal systems separations that preserved many aspects of nationhood. The Irish never completely lost independence. The Welsh, however, lost everything of nationhood, and barely sustained an independent culture. Thus, when the 'nations' of the British Isles began to re-exert their independent interpretations of history, the Welsh were among the last.

However, sometimes the last shall be first. In terms of quality of writing and interpretation, the volume by John Davies, `A History of Wales', is indeed in a class of its own in terms of Welsh history. Dafydd Elis Thomas read into the `Hansard' (the British Parliamentary equivalent of the `Congressional Record') that this is 'the greatest of book of Welsh history ever written'.

It was, in fact, originally published in Welsh, under the title of `Haynes Cymru' in 1990. From the Ice Age to the 1980s miners strikes and efforts to reassert a national identity, Davies traces in some detail a history of Wales from a Welsh perspective, inextricably tangled with English and continental history, but nonetheless deserving of its own perspective as one of the last major surviving Celtic groups.

`A number of factors, the increasing prominence of the European dimension in particular, have caused the devolution issue to return to the political agenda.... From 1911 to 1981 the number of Welsh speakers declined census by census. In 1991, however, those claiming a knowledge of the language were marginally more numerous than had been the case in 1981, and the increase among the younger age groups was especially remarkable.'

Davies confesses that he contemplated writing a different book in English, as this was meant to be a Welsh book, and he would have envisioned a different book had his first thought been in English. However, given the demand of non-Welsh readers to read the same history treatment as those who do read Welsh, Davies consented to a translation rather than a re-write.

The time frames are not the same as those of standard British histories, which tend to follow the broad sweep of royal affairs. While there is some parallel of necessity, the time factors and dates here have far more interest to the direct concerns of Wales than to the rest of Britain.

The reader should also be prepared for an array of names, of both persons and places, that are very confusing to the average reader of English -- Gwydir, Llangeitho, Aberffraw, Catraeth, Llantwit, Penmynydd and Llyn Cerrig Bach. However, it is worth the effort to learn these names and places. Particularly in America, where so many people have Welsh ancestry (the Jones now outnumber the Smiths in America as the greatest number of people by last name, and Jones is a Welsh name by and large), this is part of the collective history of America, too.

Well written, well researched (Davies was educated in Wales and at Cambridge, taught Welsh history at University College in Wales), this is perhaps the currently-accepted definitive history of Wales available today.

While Scotland and the medieval periods is my area of history, I often have need to know what is going on in England, Ireland and Wales, to fully understand what is going on in the 'big picture'. The history of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland did not happen individual vacuums, you so need to know all their histories to fully comprehend external pressures as well as the inner problems of each nation. So I have found this a wonderful work for reference on Wales.

It covers the history of the country from the dawn of time to 20th Century. So if you wish to know about Ffynnon Beuno or the Rebecca Wars, this is your book.

Excellent reference for Historical writers.

IF YOU WANT AN IN DEPTH HISTORY OF WALES THIS IS IT. YOU REALLY HAVE TO WADE THROUGH ALOT OF THE OLD LANGUAGE TO UNDERSTAND IT, BUT IT IS STILL A WONDERFUL BOOK. IT IS VERY THROUGH AND INTERESTING IF YOU STAY WITH IT. I RECOMMEND IT FOR THOSE TRULY
INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY OF WALES.........

To be called, by Westminster, the most complete volume on the principality of Wales is perhaps the highest honor for Davies's _A History of Wales_. The work gives insight into the workings of Welsh society, and its interaction with its English neighbor. As the nation modernized, Wales experienced difficulty in keeping its Celtic roots, and staving off the encroaching Angliciztion that had toppled the south Wales industrial area. Davies does justice to the events and people that have shaped modern Wales; and it's a good read to boot.