Llywelyn ap Gruffudd: Prince of Wales

by J. Beverley Smith

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd: Prince of Wales is an outstanding work by an author with a perceptive understanding of the complexities of his subject. It is clearly, sometimes passionately, written and is destined to be the definitive work on this matter for many generations. This is the first full-length English-language study of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1225-1282), prince of Wales. In this scholarly and lucid book J. Beverley Smith offers an in-depth assessment not only of Llywelyn, but of the age in which he lived. The author takes thirteenth-century Wales as a backdrop against which he analyses the relationship between a sense of nationhood and the practical realities of creating a structure to embrace a unified principality of Wales held under the aegis of the English Crown. This examination of the triumphs and subsequent reverses of a ruler of exceptional vision and vigour is a substantial contribution to our understanding of the nature of Welsh politics and the complexities of Anglo-Welsh relations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

664 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2001

Reviews

[C.M. Debell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book about a fascinating man and the times in which he lived. Who knew kings and princes spent so much time writing tetchy letters to each other?