Wales Since 1939 - Hardcover

Johnes, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719086663 ISBN 13: 9780719086663

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2012

Synopsis

The period since 1939 has seen more rapid and significant change than any other time in Welsh history. Wales has developed a more assertive identity of its own and some of the apparatus of a nation state. Yet its economy has floundered between boom and bust, its traditional communities have been transformed and the Welsh language and other aspects of its distinctiveness have been undermined by a globalising world. Wales has also been deeply divided by class, language, ethnicity, gender, religion and region. Its people have grown wealthier, healthier and more educated but they have not always been happier. This ground-breaking book examines the story of Wales since 1939, giving voice to ordinary people and the variety of experiences within the nation. This is a history of not just a nation, but of its residents’ hopes and fears, their struggles and pleasures and their views of where they live and the wider world. -- .

About this title

About the Author

Martin Johnes is Head of History and Classics at Swansea University

From the Back Cover

This book is the first overview of Wales in the period from the Second World War to the early years of devolution. Drawing upon in-depth research, it offers an incisive account of an important phase in British history from the perspective of a nation that is too often overlooked.

The period since 1939 saw more rapid and significant change than any other time in Welsh history. Wales developed a more assertive identity of its own and some of the apparatus of a nation state. Yet its economy floundered between boom and bust, its traditional communities were transformed and the Welsh language and other aspects of its distinctiveness were undermined by a globalizing world. Wales was also deeply divided by class, language, ethnicity, gender, religion and region. Its people grew wealthier, healthier and more educated but they were not always happier. This ground-breaking book examines the story of Wales since 1939, giving voice to ordinary people and the variety of experiences within the nation. This is a history of not just a nation, but of its residents' hopes and fears, their struggles and pleasures and their views of where they lived and the wider world.

A significant contribution to ideas on national identity and to public debates on Welshness and Britishness in a devolved UK, Wales since 1939 embraces topics ranging from the Aberfan disaster, the miners' strikes and the flooding of Tryweryn to the impacts of consumerism, rugby and popular music. It will appeal to anyone interested in the recent history of both Wales and Britain, and in British social and political history more generally.

From the Inside Flap

This book is the first overview of Wales in the period from the Second World War to the early years of devolution. Drawing upon in-depth research, it offers an incisive account of an important phase in British history from the perspective of a nation that is too often overlooked.The period since 1939 saw more rapid and significant change than any other time in Welsh history. Wales developed a more assertive identity of its own and some of the apparatus of a nation state. Yet its economy floundered between boom and bust, its traditional communities were transformed and the Welsh language and other aspects of its distinctiveness were undermined by a globalizing world. Wales was also deeply divided by class, language, ethnicity, gender, religion and region. Its people grew wealthier, healthier and more educated but they were not always happier. This ground-breaking book examines the story of Wales since 1939, giving voice to ordinary people and the variety of experiences within the nation. This is a history of not just a nation, but of its residents hopes and fears, their struggles and pleasures and their views of where they lived and the wider world.A significant contribution to ideas on national identity and to public debates on Welshness and Britishness in a devolved UK, Wales since 1939 embraces topics ranging from the Aberfan disaster, the miners strikes and the flooding of Tryweryn to the impacts of consumerism, rugby and popular music. It will appeal to anyone interested in the recent history of both Wales and Britain, and in British social and political history more generally.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719086663
• ISBN 13: 9780719086663
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480