This definitive work of reference - which reveals the storied histories of all of the above Welsh exports, as well as everything you need to know about this remarkable, fascinating, and iconoclastic principality - will undoubtedly be one of the most important books published in the history of Wales. Running the gamut of in-depth research and thought-provoking knowledge - from folk heroes to rock stars, ancient bards to Dylan Thomas, and all the men and women in between who have excelled in art, culture, politics, commerce, and sport - this thrilling volume provides easily accessible information on any aspect of Wales and Welsh life, past and present, letting you know why this centuries-old nation enjoys the nickname, "Cool Cymru."--Publishers description.

What do the Gresford Bells, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones, some of the world's greatest snooker players and Formula One drivers, laverbread, the Manic Street Preachers, the leek, Spencer Davis, and Bertrand Russell have in common? Answer: They're all native to Wales! This definitive work of reference--which reveals the storied histories of all of the above Welsh exports, as well as everything you need to know about this remarkable, fascinating, and iconoclastic principality--will undoubtedly be one of the most important books published in the history of Wales. Running the gamut of in-depth research and thought-provoking knowledge--from folk heroes to rock stars, ancient bards to Dylan Thomas, and all the men and women in between who have excelled in art, culture, politics, commerce, and sport--this thrilling volume provides easily accessible information on any aspect of Wales and Welsh life, past and present, letting you know why this centuries-old nation enjoys the nickname, "Cool Cymru." In the 2002 census, 24 million Americans claimed Welsh ancestry--Donny Osmond, Susan Sarandon, and Hilary Clinton among them--and the high-profile Welsh celebrities who occupy the headlines of art and leisure are almost too numerous too list (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Richard Burton, and Naomi Watts, to name a few). This unsurpassed volume, ten years in the making, includes over 3,300 entries on the notable personalities, rich histories, eye-opening etymologies, nationalist revivals, breathtaking geographies, and absorbing cultural, religious, athletic, culinary, and musical traditions that help define this spectacular nation. Accompanied by over 300 full color images, this celebration of the Welsh nation's past and present is an absolutely essential item for anyone with an interest in the wonderfully diverse heritage of a truly incredible nation.

The existence of the Welsh-language can come as a surprise to those who assume that English is the foundation language of Britain. However, J. R. R. Tolkien described Welsh as the ‘senior language of the men of Britain’. Visitors from outside Wales may be intrigued by the existence of Welsh and will want to find out how a language which has, for at least fifteen hundred years, been the closest neighbour of English, enjoys such vibrancy, bearing in mind that English has obliterated languages thousands of miles from the coasts of England.

This volume is one of the first detailed expositions of the history of different varieties of English. It explores language variation and varieties of English from an historical perspective, covering theoretical topics such as diffusion and supraregionalization as well as concrete descriptions of the internal and external historical developments of more than a dozen varieties of English.

This book presents a comparative literary study of the works of four writers working in European minority languages - Frisian, Welsh, Scots and Breton. The author examines the different strategies employed by the four writers to create distinctive literary fields for their languages in the interwar era when self-determination had been promised to national minorities, finding that each had to make some degree of a step backwards into the past to enable them to make a leap forward. The book also discusses the problems resulting from this oscillation between traditionalism and modernism, drawing on concepts such as Pascale Casanova's 'littératures combatives' to make sense of these minority languages and communities within the wider European context. This study will be of interest to students and scholars of minority languages - particularly the four explored here - as well as twentieth-century and comparative literature, multilingualism, and language policy.

A new and uniquely accessible history of Wales.

This volume traces transitions in British literature from 1960 to 1980, illuminating a diverse range of authors, texts, genres and movements. It considers innovations in form, emergent identities, changes in attitudes, preoccupations and in the mind itself, local and regional developments, and shifts within the oeuvres of individual authors.