British Battlefields – Volume 5 – Wales

Very few living men have taken part in a battle, and many must wonder how they would acquit themselves if ever they had to. A medieval battle was a very complex affair; it was far from being a simple kill or be killed. It could be won or lost at any stage; it could turn on the action of one man, and it could settle nothing, or alternatively the fate of a nation. But for the majority, when thinking of a battle, the overriding question would be: how would I behave? What would happen to me? Would I emerge unscathed and join in the celebrations, or would I be left wounded on the battlefield waiting for someone to save me, or for some ghoul to finish me off? Would I lose all fear in the excitement? In Volume 5 – Wales, Philip Warner, one of Britain's foremost military historians describes the battles from the actual locations they were fought bringing not only a military but a human eye to this chapter in our history. Although the Welsh are perhaps not widely known for their military history, the story of warfare in Wales spans some three thousand years. Philip Warner gives a detailed account of the major battles in Wales from prehistoric and Roman times up through the Battle of Fishguard in 1797. Whether fighting as mercenaries in the Middle Ages, when they were greatly esteemed and widely feared, or engaging in guerrilla combat on more rugged battlefields, where their best allies were mountains and rivers, the Welsh generals’ clear grasp of strategy and tactics served them well in times of war. Volumes 1–4 are also available.