Why Wales Never Was: The Failure of Welsh Nationalism

by Simon Brooks

Why Wales Never Was combines a devastating analysis of the historical failure of Welsh nationalism with an apocalyptic vision of a non-Welsh future. Simon Brooks mounts a powerful argument that Wales will never be free until modes of thought that have been dominant since the nineteenth century are overturned—and Wales and Welsh politics acknowledge the importance of language and culture rather than simply acquiescing to Britishness.  Deeply rooted in Welsh culture and European in scope, Why Wales Never Was brings together history, philosophy, and politics in a way never before attempted in Wales.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Dr Simon Brooks (born 1971) is a Welsh academic and writer. He is a former editor of the Welsh language current affairs magazine Barn (1996 - 2007), as well as founding co-editor of the Welsh language cultural magazine Tu Chwith between 1993 and 1996. A collection of his journalism in Barn was published in 2009. He is also a founding member of the Welsh language pressure group Cymuned, for whom he was a prominent media spokesman between 2001 and 2004, and whose central office he ran. He was a lecturer at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University.

His book Pam na fu Cymru (2015) was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year award in the non-fiction category. The English edition, Why Wales Never Was was published in 2017.