Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

WALES IN HISTORY BOOK I. To 1066-THE INVADERS. By David Fraser. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1962. Pp. xvi + 209. 10s. 6d. In The Invaders, the first of a series of volumes 'designed to meet the needs of children in the secondary schools of Wales', Mr. Fraser presents an account of the history of man in Wales from the age of the stone workers to the eve of the Norman conquests. The volume is very attractively produced. The text is well-written and is accompanied by an amplitude of photographic illustrations, diagrams and maps, and there is an index. Appended to each chapter is a set of exercises and, for the guidance of the teacher, a selection of important works of reference. The author considers the effect of geographical factors in shaping early history, prehistoric immigration and culture, the Roman settlement and its legacy, the political developments of the following centuries, the work of the Christian missionaries, the separation of Wales, the coming of the Norsemen, and the achievements of the Welsh kings from Rhodri Mawr to Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. The later sections include accounts of the social order and of the law of Wales. Mr. Fraser has very successfully transmitted to young readers material which is perfectly consistent with the conclusions reached in the scholarly works. The most difficult section to write and illustrate may well have been that which concerns the state of Wales in the period following the withdrawal of Roman power. Perhaps 'Wales in Legend' does not quite convey a development which is of real importance to the later chapters which are concerned with kings and the existence within Wales of the several kingdoms shown on the map on p. 145. Cunedda was gwledig, Cadwallon a brenin. The adept use made of the archaeological evidence in the earlier sections suggests that some of the legendary material might have given way to Catamanus rex and to Voteporix. Perhaps, too, the literary evidence introduced on p. 152 might have been considered earlier and used to convey a little more of the Men of the North, for one of the most pleasing features of this very successful work is the manner in which the evidence which pertains to Wales is related to that adduced from a wider background. The excellent material which has been so skilfully presented in The Invaders will surely be enjoyed by the children and earn the appreciation of their teachers. Aberystwyth. JENKYN BEVERLEY SMITH. JOHN EVANS A CHWEDL MADOG, 1770-1799 (JOHN EVANS AND THE LEGEND OF MADoc). By David Williams. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1963. 'This British Prince Madoc (as many Authors make mention) made two Voyages thither, and in the last left his bones there'. So wrote James Howell of the Welsh Aeneas to his cousin Howell Gwynne of