Brittle with Relics

Book excerpt: Brittle with Relics is a landmark history of the people of Wales during a period of great national change.'Richly humane, viscerally political, generously multi-voiced, Brittle with Relics is oral history at its revelatory best.'DAVID KYNASTON'Fascinating.' OBSERVER'Powerful.' LITERARY REVIEW'Inspired.' GUARDIANBrittle with Relics is a vital history of Wales undergoing some of the country's most seismic and traumatic events: the disasters of Aberfan and Tryweryn; the rise of the Welsh language movement; the Miners' Strike and its aftermath; and the narrow vote in favour of partial devolution.Drawing upon the voices of its inhabitants - includin Neil Kinnock, Rowan Williams, Leanne Wood, Gruff Rhys, Michael Sheen, Nicky Wire, Sian James, language activists, members of former mining communities and many more - this is a vivid portrait of a nation determined to survive, while maintaining the hope that Wales will one day thrive on its own terms.'Passionate.' HISTORY TODAY'Compels attention.' IRISH TIMES'Superb.' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A testament to the brutal circumstances that bonded the communities of Wales into a new polity for the 21st century.'GRUFF RHYS'This book is a guide to remembering who we can be when we work together.'GWENNO SAUNDERS'An essential telling of Welshness that contains a powerful reflection of Englishness, too.'EMMA WARREN