Book description
Bradley Manning is the 24-year-old US soldier accused of the release of
thousands of US embassy emails to Wikileaks. On Friday 16th December
2011, his pre-trial hearing opened in Fort Meade in Maryland. Manning
faces a maximum sentence of life in custody with no chance of parole.
But just a few years ago, he was a teenager in west Wales. How does his
story impact on the people he left behind, and who is responsible for
his 'radicalisation'? The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning aims to
place him in the pantheon of great Welsh radicals, from the Chartists to
Aneurin Beva. This young soldier, who names the president of the United
States as a defence witness, knows bus timetables around Haverfordwest.
This young man who played a part in the Arab spring, knows the trials of
schoolboy rugby. This young soldier who apparently chose his moral code
over his military one, speaks rudimentary Welsh. Tim Price's trademark
humanity, warmth and wit depicts a complex portrait of Manning as a
modern-day, troubled and flawed martyr, but a martyr nonetheless. Tim
Price is a writer on the cusp of major recognition. A former journalist
from the South Wales Valleys, the 31-year-old was educated at Cardiff
University, where he studied Philosophy and English Literature. As well
as writing for stage and television, Tim runs a new writing company with
friends called Dirty Protest. His plays include For Once (Pentabus tour)
and Salt, Root and Roe (Trafalgar Studios, Donmar West End season). In
2011, he was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award with his play Will
and George.
