Book description
Covering from earliest settlements to the present day, The Story
of Wales explores a country constantly on the move and connected
with the wider world, and a people who have reacted with energy and
invention to changing times and opportunities. Revisiting the major
turning points in Welsh history - from the fledgling Welsh state under
Llywelyn the Last and the ravages of the Black Death, through to its
transformation into an economic power with the Industrial Revolution
and its participation in the creation of a modern British Welfare
State and the economic boom of the 1940s and 50s - Jon Gower
re-examines many of the myths and misconceptions about Wales and the
Welsh, uncovering rich evidence of its outward-looking dynamism and
its important role on the world stage.
Accompanying a landmark BBC series, and with an introduction by
series presenter Huw Edwards, The Story of Wales is an epic
account of the history of Wales for a new generation.
Jon Gower is a former BBC Wales arts and media correspondent,
who was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, where he read English.
He is a documentary maker for television and radio and has eleven
books to his name, in both Welsh and English. They include An
Island Called Smith, about a disappearing island in Chesapeake
Bay, which gained him the John Morgan travel writing prize, and
Uncharted, a novel described by Jan Morris as 'unflagging and
unfailingly inventive.' In 2009 he was awarded a major Creative Wales
award to explore the Welsh settlement in Patagonia. Jon is currently a
Hay Festival International Fellow.
Huw Edwards is a BAFTA-award winning journalist, presenter
and newsreader. Born in Bridgend, Welshspeaking
Huw joined the BBC in 1984 and became a familiar face during his
time on BBC Six O'Clock News. Since then, Huw as covered
numerous key national events, is a regular on a range of BBC News
programmes, including as lead
newsreader on the BBC News at Ten, and has presented a
variety of documentaries on British and Welsh history and culture. A
former graduate of Cardiff University, Huw was made an Honorary Fellow
in 2003 and an Honorary Professor of Journalism in 2007, and was
elected Vice-President of the university in 2009. Huw is also an
Honorary Fellow of Swansea University, the University of Wales,
Lampeter, the University of Wales, Newport, Swansea Institute of
Higher Education, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of
Glamorgan, as well as being Patron of the National College of Music,
in London, and President of the London Welsh Trust.
