This Proud and Savage Land

by Alexander Cordell

Hywel Mortymer's story begins in 1800 when he is sixteen and a dramatic
change in fortune leads him, innocent and inexperienced, to a brutal and
dangerous life working in the coal mines.

In the mines children can be horribly maimed in devastating gas explosions,
or grow deformed with the burden of their labours and babies are born
underground.

Wales is in turmoil. A tragic divide between rich and poor, the workers powerless,
penniless, starving and diseased sparks growing unrest as the newly founded
Unions move inexorably towards the Chartist Rebellion.

This Proud and Savage Land is a brilliantly detailed chronicle of early nineteenth-
century Wales and a prelude to the bestselling Rape of the Fair Country.

Genres: Historical Fiction, British Literature, Historical

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Anglo-Welsh writer born to an army family in what was then Ceylon.

After retiring from the army he adopted Wales as home and began to write of the country and its history. His first, and best-known novel, the Rape of the Fair Country (first in the Mortymer Trilogy) was a million selling best-seller in its day.

Reviews

[Bethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cordell is at his best here - not something I think I can say for any other prequel I’ve read. He was - is, because I can never think of an author in past tense - such a phenomenally talented writer and I can’t remember the last time I was this thrilled to discover an author’s work.

More Morfydd is also a huge bonus.

“And it seemed, standing there, as if a new dawn was breaking over the carth; one that held in its arms comfort, not only for my crucified generation, but for lestyn's. Aye, I thought, the family first and last; for me this would always be. Yet I knew in my racing heart that this would not always be: that I was responsible for a million other sons; those that sprang from the loins of men and women who came after me, long after me, my sons and their sons had gone to dust.
One day, I thought, now strangely trembling, things would be changed. Wales would be purged of the cancers that had spread across her body: she would conquer and wash away the stains of defeat and rid herself of the foreign power that leeched her lifeblood.”

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I haven't read the Cordell Trilogy as yet I still found This Proud and Savage Land a thoroughly engrossing tale. Cordell has managed to portray the hardship and toil of the mines and industrial works that dominated the South Wales valleys during the 1800 and 1900's. Set in the early to mid 1800's Cordell takes the reader on a journey through the childhood, teens years and manhood of Hywel Mortymer and his family as he loses his father by his uncle's bidding and enters the world of coal and iron that sprung up during and after the Industrial Revolution in Wales. Cordell captures what it is to be Welsh during 1800's trying to make a living in the mines and associated works, earning next to nothing while the coal and iron masters control every aspect of daily life and how these conditions pushed the workers towards the unions and rebellion. Although Cordell tells the reader what happens well before the events themselves I found this added to the tension of the book, creating in the reader that feeling of dread and fear that working in the mines and ironworks would have done for those who did so. A fantastic book that grips you from the start and takes you back to time of effective slave labour, desperation, comaraderie and community spirit in the South Wales Valleys.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prelude to the Rape of the Fair Country trilogy, this focuses on the hardships of children working underground alongside a murderous family vendetta which drives the narrative.

This was even bleaker than the ROTFC trilogy and whilst I enjoyed it it isn't quite as good as those books, as it doesn't have the engaging interplay of the Mortymer family for most of the book.

Still a very interesting look at the hardships and horrors of 19th century Wales though.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading parts of this book and then at other times I felt it went off at a tangent and I found it quite hard to keep up with and had to push to keep reading through that in places. It's very dense!

I really appreciated the literary descriptions and insight into the historical context in which the book is set - providing very vivid images and insight into the lives of the children in the Welsh coalmines. Having been bought up in South West Wales as a child and visited some of the disused coalmines I hadn't ever really learn't much about the Welsh coalminging history or experience, so I really appreciated this about the story. Reflecting on their lives it makes you appreciate how lucky we are now-a-days! I also liked some of the Welsh characteristics within the story, the names/nicknames of the charaters etc although sometimes there were so many characters mentioneed it was hard to keep up with them all!

I liked the central story and character.

[Harry Tomos · Rating 4 out of 5]

such an interesting book, probably more so because I know the local landscape so I can picture it so vividly.....