Writing Wales: Welsh historians and the search for identity 1970-1997

Writing Wales: Welsh historians and the search for identity 1970-1997

National identity is a topical and controversial issue in Wales, due to the complex and multiple nature of the identities that can be classified as Welsh. Correspondingly, the issue of identity has been the subject of considerable study in Wales but there remain gaps in the overall research picture. This study focuses on one: the way in which Welsh historiography has portrayed Wales and Welshness. Yet the very nature of Welsh history means that such a study must also consider the impact of England on the historiographical depictions of Wales and Welshness. This book, then, also examines the depiction of the Welsh-English relationship within Welsh national historiography and the way this, in turn, impacted on the portrayal of Wales and Welshness. This study aims to contribute to the research on Welsh identity through the analysis of this specific area of Welsh historiography. In doing so, it offers a new way of approaching the complicated issue of understanding Wales, Welshness, and the relationship between England and Wales. It should be especially useful to students and academics studying historiography, or Welsh or British history.

Copyright 2011 by the author and Lambert Academic Publishing. Originally submitted as a thesis for a PhD in 2007 at Queensland Institute of Technology.