Cardiganshire County History Volume 2 is published by the University of Wales Press on behalf of the Ceredigion Historical Society, in association with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. This volume provides a comprehensive and authoritative account, written by distinguished authors in fifteen chapters, of the wide range of social, economic, political, religious and cultural forces that shaped the ethos and character of the county of Cardiganshire over a period of 600 years. This was a period of great turbulence and change. It witnessed conquest and castle-building, the impact of the Glyndŵr rebellion, the coming of the Protestant Reformation, and the turmoil of civil war. Over time, the inhabitants of the county developed a sense of themselves as a distinctive people who dwelt in a recognisable entity. From very early on, literate people took pride in their native patch; in the eyes of the learned Sulien (d. 1091) and his sons, the land of Ceredig was a sacred patria. Poets and scribes burnished the reputation of the county, and a vibrant poem by Siôn Morys in 1577 maintained that it was the best of shires and ‘the fold of the generous ones’.

Cardiganshire County History Volume 2 is published by the University of Wales Press on behalf of the Ceredigion Historical Society, in association with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. This volume provides a comprehensive and authoritative account, written by distinguished authors in fifteen chapters, of the wide range of social, economic, political, religious and cultural forces that shaped the ethos and character of the county of Cardiganshire over a period of 600 years. This was a period of great turbulence and change. It witnessed conquest and castle-building, the impact of the Glyndŵr rebellion, the coming of the Protestant Reformation, and the turmoil of civil war. Over time, the inhabitants of the county developed a sense of themselves as a distinctive people who dwelt in a recognisable entity. From very early on, literate people took pride in their native patch; in the eyes of the learned Sulien (d. 1091) and his sons, the land of Ceredig was a sacred patria. Poets and scribes burnished the reputation of the county, and a vibrant poem by Siôn Morys in 1577 maintained that it was the best of shires and ‘the fold of the generous ones’.

This volume traces the profound changes which took place in the economic and social life of Cardiganshire during a period of nearly three hundred years. Particular attention is given to the post-1800 period, for it was in the 19th and 20th centuries that the social forces which had been operating over a much longer period of time came to transform the economic, intellectual, religious and educational life of the people. The volume has been designed to enable the reader to comprehend the course of such revolutionary changes and to understand how and why such a small, remote and poor county should have contributed so richly to the life of Wales.

This is a general textbook organised around ideas of identity and nationhood rather than the usual high political narrative. It incorporates cutting-edge scholarship and new evidential sources to provide novel perspectives. Early Modern Wales considers neglected topics such as gender and women's experiences and examines history beyond the ruling elite.

Balanced coverage of whole history of Christianity in Wales, paying as much attention to earlier periods as the better-known later ones. A contemporary view of the subject, incorporating the latest scholarly research in an accessible and readable form. Guides to further reading specifically aimed at navigating students and others through what they should read after this book.

This is the first book-length treatment of the ‘turncoat’ John Poyer, the man who initiated the Second Civil War through his rebellion in south Wales in 1648. The volume charts Poyer’s rise from a humble glover in Pembroke to become parliament’s most significant supporter in Wales during the First Civil War (1642–6), and argues that he was a more complex and significant individual than most commentators have realised. Poyer’s involvement in the poisonous factional politics of the post-war period (1646–8) is examined, and newly discovered material demonstrates how his career offers fresh insights into the relationship between national and local politics in the 1640s, the use of print and publicity by provincial interest groups, and the importance of local factionalism in understanding the course of the civil war in south Wales. The volume also offers a substantial analysis of Poyer’s posthumous reputation after his execution by firing squad in April 1649.