News

The true stories behind 20 of the toughest players to ever play the game, from pre-WW1 firebrands to modern-day YouTube sensations. They are shocking, gruesome, often very funny and sometimes tragic, but what unites these men is their total commitment to the sport.  read more

The second part of a Welsh historical series, seen as Ceredigion’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, is published this week. Described as “lyrical, visceral and angry” Nanteos: The Dipping Pool is a gothic novel set against the dramatic backdrop of 1750s Cardiganshire.  read more

Since opening in 1999 Tŷ Hafan, the charity that offers care and support to children and young people with shortened life expectancy, has supported over 850 children and their families. Juliet Bebbington, one of its volunteers, has written a warm and funny book to help fundraising for this important charity, with all the profits going towards the hospice.  read more

Where was Britain’s first centre of learning founded? Oxford? Cambridge? St Andrews? Think again: it was in Llantwit Major in south Wales – known as Llanilltud Fawr in Welsh. St Illtud’s monastery and training school was founded in c.500 A.D., making it in all probability the oldest centre of learning in Britain. Scholars of church history have emphasised its importance by calling it ‘the Christian axis of the Celtic-speaking peoples’ and ‘the University of the Atlantic of the Celtic period’.  read more

The author of an unusual new handy pocket-sized book is hoping to use humour to inspire people to learn and use a few simple bits of Manx. Unlike many traditional phrasebooks, Teach Your Cat Manx shows that learning useful expressions doesn’t have to be boring or daunting, and makes picking up a few basics accessible to everyone.  read more

South Wales’ coal industry is world famous, and north Wales’ slate industry is recognised thanks to the Slate Museum in Llanberis as well as numerous publications celebrating its history. But what about the lost ore industry in mid Wales? Ioan Lord, author of a new bilingual book on the subject, Worn by Tools and Time: Ore from Mid Wales, hopes to bring attention to the history and the importance of the industry and its workers through his descriptive text and brand-new photographs of the underground world created centuries ago.  read more

The first full-length biography of Captain Richard Wain VC is published this week. Valour Beyond Measure, written by award-winning author Dr Jonathan Hicks, also covers the history of the early days of the Tank Corps and includes around 180 unseen photos.  read more

The powerful rural stories of the semi-legendary people who lived in the ancient village of Tremeirchion and the unorthodox community of Sodom in the Clwydian Range of Denbighshire are told for the first time in On a Dark Night with Enough Wind. The author, Lilla Pennant – part English, part Welsh – tells her story which is connected to our rural past with its drama, comedies and tragedies.  read more

In the spring, summer and autumn of 2016, a year after walking around Wales, Anne Hayward set out on foot from her home in Abergavenny, South Wales. Over almost four months, she visited some of South Wales, the West of England and Brittany’s most holy sites, and ranging from the Moravian Church in Brockweir to Wesley Cottage in Trewint and the ancient cathedrals at Saint-Pol-de-Léon and Tréguier.  read more

A new book celebrates the depictions of Wales’ patron saint, St David, from churches all over Wales. Depicting St David by artist and historian Martin Crampin, seeks to foster a better understanding of the images of St David in all their colour and variety.  read more