- Original research and unprecedented knowledge provided about the conscientious objectors from Wales during the Great War. - In-depth original description and analysis of the activity of the pacifist anti-war movement in Wales and its extent, including the activity of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and key chapels and ministers. - In depth original description and analysis of the political anti-war movement, including the Independent Labour Party and the left within the South Wales Miners Federation. It assesses the impact of the the anti-war movement in key areas in Wales such as Merthyr Tydfil and Briton Ferry, where the ILP was strongest.

Soon after the outbreak of the Great War, following many years of part-time soldiering as cavalry troops on home defense duties, the members of various British Yeomanry regiments were asked to volunteer for overseas service. In 1916, officered by well-known members of the landed gentry, two of the Welsh Yeomanry regiments, the Pembroke Yeomanry and the Glamorgan Yeomanry, were amongst many who embarked for foreign service for the first time ever in their history. Spending the next twelve months in Egypt during the campaign against the Senussi tribesmen, the two regiments merged to form the 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion, Welsh Regiment, which joined the 74th (Yeomanry) Division to take part in the historic offensive into Palestine that ultimately led to the liberation of the Holy City of Jerusalem after 400 years of Ottoman rule. In May 1918, after two years of hard campaigning in the Palestinian deserts, the 24th Welsh embarked for France with the rest of the 74th Division, joining the Allied forces in the victorious 100-day offensive against the Germans. Welsh Yeomanry at War sheds new light on the battalions almost forgotten campaign in Palestine, which saw many of its troops killed and buried in the Holy Land, and also tells the enthralling story of its short but arduous period in France.

In Britain, Wales has gained a reputation as a nation wedded to pacifism, but this view ignores the long history of Welsh involvement in armed conflict. The essays assembled in Wales and War examine the reactions of Welsh people to a series of conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the conflict in the Falklands. The impact of Britain's imperial economy on Welsh support for and participation in war, as well as the role played by geography, are among the range of illuminating topics considered in this collection. Featuring work from a new generation of historians, Wales and War is an innovative addition to our understanding of British history.

A new appraisal of the military careers and activities of soldiers from elite medieval families.

A WWII-era Welsh barmaid begins a secret relationship with a German POW in this “beautiful” novel by the author of A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself (Ann Patchett). Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Set in the stunning landscape of North Wales just after D-Day, this critically acclaimed debut novel traces the intersection of disparate lives in wartime. When a prisoner-of-war camp is established near her village, seventeen-year-old barmaid Esther Evans finds herself strangely drawn to the camp and its forlorn captives. She is exploring the camp boundary when an astonishing thing occurs: A young German corporal calls out to her from behind the fence. From that moment on, the two begin an unlikely—and perilous—romance. Meanwhile, a German-Jewish interrogator travels to Wales to investigate Britain’s most notorious Nazi prisoner, Rudolf Hess. In this richly drawn and thought-provoking “tour de force,” all will come to question the meaning of love, family, loyalty, and national identity (The New Yorker). “If you loved The English Patient, there’s probably a place in your heart for The Welsh Girl.” —USA Today “Davies’s characters are marvelously nuanced.” —Los Angeles Times “Beautifully conjures a place and its people, in an extraordinary time . . . A rare gem.” —Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs “This first novel by Davies, author of two highly praised short story collections, has been anticipated—and, with its wonderfully drawn characters, it has been worth the wait.” —Booklist, starred review

On 28 September 1066 William of Normandy landed near Hastings and prepared to meet the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold Godwinson. On 10 October 1066 the two armies met; and after six hours of fighting what became known as the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon army was crushed and their king slain. The Normans set up castles to control the native population, and four-fifths of all England's land changed ownership. However, despite initial Norman success, it was fully two centuries before the Anglo-Norman kings managed to penetrate the wild interiors of Wales and Scotland, and many more centuries before the countries of Scotland, Wales and England were united under one crown.

Nearly ten thousand pages of writing in Welsh stemming from the American Civil War has survived--offering contemporary readers a surprising opportunity to look at the war from an entirely new perspective. In the first study of its kind, Jerry Hunter sifts through this huge archive of letters, diaries, poetry, and prose from soldiers, civilians, and professional writers to give a fascinating account of Welsh-American reactions to the war and its context. His examination of issues such as the Welsh community's support for abolition and the war's effects on notions of Welsh-American identity will captivate historians, literary scholars, and Civil War buffs alike.