Appeal launched to buy Welsh history book for primary schools pupils

An appeal has been launched to raise funds buy a book about Welsh history for primary school pupils in Wales.

The History Forum of Wales, a charity that works with history societies in Wales to ensure that Welsh history is remembered and promoted, is behind the campaign to raise £4000 for the books.

10 Stories from Welsh History That Everyone Should Know picks out the most dramatic events in the last thousand years of Wales’ history in a colourful and attractive way that will appeal to young people of all ages.

Written by former Nation.Cymru editor and Bangor University lecturer Ifan Morgan Jones and illustrated by Telor Gwyn, it is full of pictures, maps and engaging titbits of information.

Author Ifan Morgan Jones said that only including 10 stories meant that he had to make some very tough decisions but that every story also included a second spread full of other information to place it in context.

The book looks specifically at the tales of:

• Gwenllian Ferch Gruffudd
• Owain Glyndŵr
• Black Bart the Pirate
• Dic Penderyn and the Merthyr Rising
• The scientist and environmentalist Alfred Russel Wallace
• The Great Penrhyn Strike
• The 1919 Race Riots
• Eileen Beasley’s Welsh language campaign
• The Aberfan disaster
• The coming of Devolution.

Bilingual review website, Son am Lyfrau said of the book: “Without a doubt, this is one of the most important books to be published this year, which adds to the rare selection of contemporary, engaging non-fiction books available in Welsh, and this deserves its place on the bookshelf in every school and home.”

On hearing of the plan for his book, Ifan Morgan Jones said: “I had no idea about this fundraiser but it’s lovely to think that some readers value the book enough to think it’s worth sending to every school in Wales.

“The idea behind the book was just to give young people in Wales a taste of the history of their own nation and hope that they would then go on to have that interest.

“I’d heard a lot of people regret that they hadn’t learnt enough Welsh history as children, and I didn’t want to leave the younger generation today feeling the same.

“I’ve been very pleased with how well the book has sold and it’s clear that young readers – and older ones – have enjoyed it.

“A lot of thanks also goes to the artist Telor Gwyn for his engaging and colourful drawings which have really helped to tell the stories in the book.”

Contribute to the appeal here.

The book can be purchased here and from all good bookshops