The Indemnity and Oblivion Act (1660)

The Indemnity and Oblivion Act (1660)

Between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the restoration of Charles II in 1660, England didn’t have a King. In retrospect, this period is referred to as the Interregnum – a Latin word meaning “between the reigns”. After Parliament restored Charles II to the throne, one of the first laws he was asked to pass was the Indemnity and Oblivion Act of 1660. The main purpose of the Act was to grant immunity from prosecution to anyone who had held office during the Interregnum, with the exception of those who had actively been involved in the execution of Charles I. That was the “indemnity” part.

The “oblivion” part of the Act was a rather more bizarre piece of legislature. It made it a criminal offence, for a period of three years from the date of the Act, for anyone to refer to the fact that the Interregnum had taken place. The penalty for violating this injunction was a fine of ten pounds for the gentry, or two pounds for the working classes. Although many politicians over the years have tried to suppress historical facts, the Indemnity and Oblivion Act may be the only time it was enshrined in law!

from

Conspiracy History: A History of the World for Conspiracy Theorists

by Andrew May 

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417172516&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy 

Another cathedral, another murder (1079)

History repeats itself. Almost a century before Thomas Becket was assassinated in Canterbury Cathedral, something very similar happened a thousand miles away in southern Poland. The victim on this occasion was Stanislaus of Szczepanów, who was the Archbishop of Kraków – a post held nine centuries later by Karol Wojtyła, who went on to become Pope John Paul II.

Like Karol Wojtyła, Stanislaus of Szczepanów found himself in conflict with the government of his time. In Wojtyła’s case it was the Communists – with Stanislaus it was King Bolesław the Bold. Being bold, the King didn’t waste time dropping subtle hints the way Henry II did a hundred years later. He went straight to Kraków Cathedral and dealt with the matter personally. He slew the archbishop as he was celebrating mass, and hacked his body into pieces.

As with Becket, the murder didn’t prove as universally popular as Bolesław might have hoped. He was ousted from power later the same year, and forced to flee the country... while Stanislaus was made a saint.

from "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417172516&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy

The Discerning Gentleman’s Guide to His Majesty’s Fractious North American Colonies; People to Visit and Places to Bombard - Launch Event

The Past, as they say, is Another Country. Now there is a guide book to North America as it was during Revolutionary Times. Written by Dr Lee Rotherham this book tells the modern reader everything they would need to know when visiting North America 250 years ago.
Written as if it were a guide book to be used by a visiting European, and illustrated, this book is the essential guidebook to Revolutionary America.
Satisfied user Charles James Fox says “A gentleman is taught never to run. He might make an exception when pursued by a band of Cree warriors after his scalp. And why should you be wary of accepting an invitation to a tea party in Boston, why might you want to find some fur; why are the rebel colonies rebelling; why should you watch your watch when you meet George Washington, and just what is the correct etiquette for using a dessert spoon in a log cabin? The essential visitor’s guide.”
So this handbook is part survival guide, part tome to assist in cultural acclimatisation, part aide-memoire to help manage expectations in what remains a frontier land.
The book contains added War of 1812  bicentenary flavouring and is being launched to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the writing of “The Star Spangled Banner”.

About the Author
Dr Lee Rotherham is an historian with two postgraduate degrees on Québec. His survival skills were honed by idly wandering around Montréal during its worst winter on record. An army reservist, it’s thus appropriate that from his dealings with the Canadian Armed Forces he is a Member of the Order of Good Cheer/L’Ordre du Bon Temps. This is a Nova Scotia fraternity, originally set up by Samuel de Champlain, which commemorates the terrible winters of the first colonists and the social environment that got them through it. With beer, his accent betrays an alarming French Canadian twang.

CONTENTS
Foreword by Charles James Fox
An Introduction for Tourists
Chapter 1 - Planning Your Visit
Chapter 2 - The Politics of Revolt
Chapter 3 - Information for Business Visitors
Chapter 4 - Culture and Social Mores
Chapter 5 - The Revolution at a Glance
Chapter 6 - Meet and Greet
Chapter 7 - Where to Visit
Appendix 1  - Pocket Timeline
Appendix 2 - A Word Before You Leave
Appendix 3 - Acknowledgements and Further Study
About the Author

Soviet war machines, British technology (1946)

Soviet war machines, British technology (1946)
The MiG-15 was the first really successful jet fighter, fielded in huge numbers by the Soviet Union and its allies during the late 1940s and early 50s. The plane’s success was down to its combination of a first-class airframe, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Bureau of Moscow, and a first-class engine, designed by the Rolls-Royce company of Derby, England.
When the Second World War ended in 1945, the Russians were lagging a long way behind Britain and America in jet technology. The following year the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, presented the Soviet Union with a fully functional Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet, complete with permission to produce it under licence, by way of thanks for the support the Soviets had given to Britain during the War.
In light of the subsequent polarization of the Cold War – which saw America and Britain on one side and Russia on the other – Attlee’s behaviour may appear to border on treason. But that wasn’t the case at the time. The Russians had been wartime allies of Britain just as much as the Americans had, and in political terms Attlee’s Labour Party was poised midway between Soviet-style communism and American-style capitalism. That was little consolation four years later, however, when British pilots found themselves up against the MiG-15 in the Korean War!

from "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417008501&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy

NEW BOOK - The 'Dispossessed', the 'Never-Possessed' and the 'Bastards' - Debunking Major's Myths of the Eurosceptics

Euroscepticism within the Conservative Party has been growing steadily since the Maastricth Rebellion of 1993. And yet the lessons of those turbulent months have yet to be learned properly. This book sets out clearly the reasons why some MPs rebelled and others did not - and points the way to the future.

In 1993 the Maastricht Rebellion tore apart John Major’s Conservative Government. An ever-shifting group of Eurosceptic rebels consumed hours of Parliamentary time, derailed legislation and brought the government to the brink of collapse. Major denounced the rebels as the 'Dispossessed', the 'Never-Possessed' and the 'Bastards'.
This paper rebuts the myths about the Maastricht rebels.
With Prime Minister Cameron's proposed renegotiation and referendum on EU membership set to take place in 2017 recognising the factors affecting MPs' willingness to defy the party line is vital. Should Cameron secure re-election at the head of a minority or slim-majority government, the ensuing Europe debate within the Conservative Party is likely to be even more divisive than Maastricht. Understanding MPs' behaviour on Europe will allow the pro-withdrawal faction to assess the optimum methods of convincing MPs to side with them, as well as how to counter the Europhile faction's attempts to poach their followers. The purpose of this work is therefore to act as a case study for newer Eurosceptic MPs to study.

Kaspar Hauser (1828)

Kaspar Hauser (1828)

In May 1828, a boy of about 17 appeared out of nowhere in the town of Nuremberg in Germany. He said his name was Kaspar Hauser, but that was virtually the only useful information he could provide. An anonymous letter he was carrying stated that Kaspar had been put in the writer’s care as a baby on 7 October 1812, and that since that time he had been brought up in virtual isolation from the outside world.

The story of Kaspar Hauser caused a sensation at the time. Some people accused him of being an attention-seeking fraud, while others took his story at face value. He stuck to it doggedly for five years, until he was stabbed to death by person or persons unknown. His mysterious murder, and his strangely secretive upbringing, led many people to speculate that he was the child of a noble family that someone wanted out of the way.

One possibility is that Kaspar was the Grand Duke of Baden’s son, who had been born on 29 September 1812 and supposedly died a few weeks later. The theory is that, rather than dying, the boy was abducted and imprisoned. If this was true, then Kaspar should have inherited the dukedom when his father died in 1818. As it was, though, the title passed sideways to another branch of the family. One of the chief beneficiaries was the Countess of Hochberg, who many people consider the most likely suspect in the case. Recent DNA tests have given tantalizing hints of a link between Kaspar Hauser and the Baden family.

from "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May

 Get your copy HERE

Preface by Nick Redfern

JFK, the Bilderberg Group and the New World Order – conspiracy theories abound on today’s internet, but they are nothing new. Taking a long-term view reveals century after century of covert conspiracies, murder plots and political intrigues. The history of the world is riddled with hidden agendas, scheming politicians and secretive organisations.

Did the U.S. government fake the 9/11 terror attacks? Was the British establishment behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales? Conspiracy theories like these may be a modern phenomenon, but the basic idea – that world events are controlled by cynically duplicitous schemers – is as old as history. When the heir to the English throne died in 1120, they said it was an accident – but it was an accident from which certain people benefited a great deal. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, it was in response to blatant Polish aggression... which just happened to be the work of Nazi soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms. As Niccolò Machiavelli said 500 years ago, “the end justifies the means”. History is often dismissed as a dull subject, but it leaps into all-too-contemporary life when seen through the eyes of a Conspiracy Theorist! This fast-paced account tells you everything you need to know about the convenient accidents, false flag operations and hidden agendas that have shaped the course of history.

CONTENTS

Preface by Nick Redfern

Chapter 1: A brief introduction to conspiracy theories

Chapter 2: False flag incidents

Chapter 3: They acted alone - or did they?

Chapter 4: Hidden agendas

Chapter 5: Convenient deaths

Chapter 6: Secret identities

Chapter 7: The Illuminati and others

Chapter 8: Rewriting history

Chapter 9: Chronology of Conspiracy

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and consultant.

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NEW BOOK - A Dinosaur's Guide to Libertarianism

Get your paperback copy HERE

A book that lays bare the failings of the British political establishmenet and sysem, penned by a famously robust critic of the European Union and its politically correct tyranny.
I have been called “a dinosaur” more times than I can remember - usually by some politically correct policy wonk who can’t be bothered to debate the issues and prefers to insult his opponents. Nothing wrong with dinosaurs. They dominated Earth for over 120 million years. Political correctness has managed 15 years so far.
Classical liberalism and libertarianism is the only possible salvation for mankind, it looks to the future not the past.
This book is about why we are governed or why we are governed in the hopelessly inefficient, corrupt and incompetent way we are. It contains more questions than answers yet I make no apology for that. I believe in the English speaking world in the last hundred years we have stopped asking appropriate questions, without which we can never find answers, right or wrong.

About the Author
Godfrey Bloom is a financial economist who served as a UKIP Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2013. He was born in south London and was educated at his local grammar school. Bloom was a co-author of Wolfson Prize Economics Submission with Professor Pat Barron and Professor Philipp Bagus. He warned that credit agencies would be "castrated" by too much regulation of the EU. In the 1990s he was part of the British government’s regulatory consultancy panel. Never one to shy away from controversy, Bloom was ejected from London’s Mansion House in 2009 for heckling Lord Turner for giving staff bonuses - thus becoming the first man to be ejected since John Wilkes in the late-18th century.

A Young Pretender

A young pretender (1487)

Ten years before Perkin Warbeck’s rebellion, Henry VII had to deal with another pretender to the throne. This was a rather different situation, though. Warbeck, whether he was an impostor or the real thing, was the instigator of his own rebellion. In the earlier case, however, the claimant to the throne was a ten year old boy named Lambert Simnel. He was just a puppet in the affair, selected because his facial features resembled those of the royal family. The brains behind the plot was Simnel’s tutor – a man named Richard Symonds. He tried to pass the young boy off as a nephew of Richard III, who had a stronger claim to the throne that Henry VII himself.

Symonds managed to pull together a sizeable army to support his claim, but they were defeated at the Battle of Stoke Field in June 1487. Henry VII doesn’t seem to have taken this attempt on his throne very seriously, though – Richard Symonds was merely imprisoned, not executed, while the young Lambert Simnel was given a job in the King’s service.

 from "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May

Get your copy HERE

Preface by Nick Redfern

JFK, the Bilderberg Group and the New World Order – conspiracy theories abound on today’s internet, but they are nothing new. Taking a long-term view reveals century after century of covert conspiracies, murder plots and political intrigues. The history of the world is riddled with hidden agendas, scheming politicians and secretive organisations.

Did the U.S. government fake the 9/11 terror attacks? Was the British establishment behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales? Conspiracy theories like these may be a modern phenomenon, but the basic idea – that world events are controlled by cynically duplicitous schemers – is as old as history. When the heir to the English throne died in 1120, they said it was an accident – but it was an accident from which certain people benefited a great deal. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, it was in response to blatant Polish aggression... which just happened to be the work of Nazi soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms. As Niccolò Machiavelli said 500 years ago, “the end justifies the means”. History is often dismissed as a dull subject, but it leaps into all-too-contemporary life when seen through the eyes of a Conspiracy Theorist! This fast-paced account tells you everything you need to know about the convenient accidents, false flag operations and hidden agendas that have shaped the course of history.

CONTENTS

Preface by Nick Redfern

Chapter 1: A brief introduction to conspiracy theories

Chapter 2: False flag incidents

Chapter 3: They acted alone - or did they?

Chapter 4: Hidden agendas

Chapter 5: Convenient deaths

Chapter 6: Secret identities

Chapter 7: The Illuminati and others

Chapter 8: Rewriting history

Chapter 9: Chronology of Conspiracy

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and consultant.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416038335&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy

New Paperback - The Battle of Brighton

New Paperback - The Battle of Brighton

A book about the bloody Battle of Brighton, one of the lesser known battles of the medieval Hundred Years War between England and France.
In 1377 a powerful French fleet landed an army on the beach at Brighton - then a small fishing village known as Brighthelmstone. The village went up in flames and the French stormed inland to loot, plunder, murder and rape. The local militia mustered at Lewes under local knights and set out to attack the French and exact revenge. The climatic battle was fought just to the east of the modern town centre, with part of the battlefield on the open downs which have changed little since 1377 allowing the course of the fighting to be traced on the ground.
This book brings an exciting new look to the Hundred Years Wars. The course of the campaign is given, but the emphasis is on the Battle of Brighton and the men who fought there. There are detailed analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies, tactical diagrams explain how the troops formed up and moved, and a study of the commanders. The course of the battle is followed with the aid of maps, relating to the ground today. The aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of the war are then described.
The “Bretwalda Battles” series has been running with increasing success as printed books and as ebooks for five years.

Contents
Chapter 1 The 100 Years’ War
Chapter 2 Leaders at Brighton
Chapter 3 The Campaign
Chapter 4 The Battle
Chapter 5 Aftermath

About the Author
Leonard James is an author of military books. He comes from a military family that has fought in every major war since at least the Crimean War, and probably before that. His forebears were mostly cavalrymen, though his father served in the RAF. Leonard has made a particular study of battlefields in Britain, walking over dozens of them to get an eye for ground. He has also handled genuine and replica weapons to better understand the use of pre-modern weapons and the men who wielded them.

Get your copy  HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-Brighton-1377-Bretwalda-Battles/dp/1909698881/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416246606&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+brighton

Deposed, imprisoned and dead (1471)

When Henry VI came to the throne in 1422 he was less than a year old. Obviously at that time he was just a figurehead, and the country was run by the people around him. But the situation didn’t change as Henry grew up – he remained a puppet throughout his life. In 1461 he was ousted by another claimant to the throne, who was duly crowned as King Edward IV. Less than ten years later, though, the tables were turned – Edward was overthrown by Henry’s supporters. Henry VI was back... but not for long.

In the Spring of 1471, Edward IV regained the throne. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London... where he was found dead on 22 May. Did Edward have him murdered? The death of his rival was suspiciously well timed, anyway. Henry left no powerful heirs to challenge Edward for the crown, his only son having been killed in battle a few weeks earlier. Indeed, the official line was that Henry died of grief on hearing of his son’s death – but few people believed that.

Not everyone blamed King Edward, though. In the third and last of the plays that Shakespeare wrote about Henry VI, he has him stabbed to death by Edward’s younger brother – none other than the Bard’s favourite villain, the future Richard III.

from "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May
Get your copy HERE

Product Description

Preface by Nick Redfern

JFK, the Bilderberg Group and the New World Order – conspiracy theories abound on today’s internet, but they are nothing new. Taking a long-term view reveals century after century of covert conspiracies, murder plots and political intrigues. The history of the world is riddled with hidden agendas, scheming politicians and secretive organisations.

Did the U.S. government fake the 9/11 terror attacks? Was the British establishment behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales? Conspiracy theories like these may be a modern phenomenon, but the basic idea – that world events are controlled by cynically duplicitous schemers – is as old as history. When the heir to the English throne died in 1120, they said it was an accident – but it was an accident from which certain people benefited a great deal. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, it was in response to blatant Polish aggression... which just happened to be the work of Nazi soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms. As Niccolò Machiavelli said 500 years ago, “the end justifies the means”. History is often dismissed as a dull subject, but it leaps into all-too-contemporary life when seen through the eyes of a Conspiracy Theorist! This fast-paced account tells you everything you need to know about the convenient accidents, false flag operations and hidden agendas that have shaped the course of history.

CONTENTS

Preface by Nick Redfern

Chapter 1: A brief introduction to conspiracy theories

Chapter 2: False flag incidents

Chapter 3: They acted alone - or did they?

Chapter 4: Hidden agendas

Chapter 5: Convenient deaths

Chapter 6: Secret identities

Chapter 7: The Illuminati and others

Chapter 8: Rewriting history

Chapter 9: Chronology of Conspiracy

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and consultant.






http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416038335&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy

NEW EBOOK - Ghosts of Hereford

Product Description

Hereford is a beautiful and ancient city known for its stunning cathedral and delicious cider - but there are also ghosts, phantoms and spooks of many kinds.
This book looks at the ghosts that haunt this city. Jordan Godwinstone has visited the haunted properties and investigate the spooky goings on. In this book we meet a phantom monk, the most beautiful ghost in England and the enigmatic “Old Hoskins” - among others.
The “Bretwalda Ghost Files” series seeks to look at some of the best known or best authenticated hauntings the have been reported.


About the Author
Jordan Godwinstowe has been studying ghosts for the past 30 years. He began by investigating ghosts to pass the evenings while away from home on business trips, but more recently has been undertaking journeys specifically to carry out investigations into reputedly haunted buildings. He has a vast archive of photos and witness statements about hauntings and ghosts of many different kinds. Now he brings his extensive expertise to bear on the Bretwalda Ghost Files.

Get your copy HERE

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Hereford-Bretwalda-Ghost-Files-ebook/dp/B00NH0L04A/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415958547&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+hereford

Phantom time (1000)

British readers will be well aware that, in parts of the country at least, it’s difficult to dig in the ground without finding traces of the Roman occupation. It may be the remains of a villa, complete with central heating and neatly tiled bathrooms, but more likely it will be a few low value coins. But in either case, it constitutes hard evidence that the Roman Empire really did exist. On the continent the evidence is even more striking, with buildings and engineering works still standing for anyone to see. In Rome itself, the Pantheon and the Colosseum are among the most impressive buildings in Europe.

It’s the same with the written word. Thousands of books and documents survive from the Roman period, whether they’re the work of poets like Ovid and Virgil, historians like Livy and Tacitus or politicians like Cicero and Julius Caesar. Across the whole gamut of human creativity, the story is the same. Whether you’re talking about literature, or art, or science, or engineering, or architecture, or politics, or economics – there’s no doubt the Roman Empire existed.

When it comes to the period following the fall of the Roman Empire, it’s a different matter altogether. There are no great buildings, no aqueducts, no marble sculptures, no centrally-heated bathrooms. You can dig for years without finding a single coin with a date on it between the 7th and 10th centuries. Writings from the period are few and far between, and often only exist in later copies. Hard evidence for the “Early Middle Ages”, as the period is known to historians, is in short supply. You have to take it as a matter of faith.

Or do you? A radical alternative has been suggested by some German scholars – that the Early Middle Ages never existed.

Read more in "Conspiracy History" by Andrew May.
Get your copy HERE

Product Description

Preface by Nick Redfern

JFK, the Bilderberg Group and the New World Order – conspiracy theories abound on today’s internet, but they are nothing new. Taking a long-term view reveals century after century of covert conspiracies, murder plots and political intrigues. The history of the world is riddled with hidden agendas, scheming politicians and secretive organisations.

Did the U.S. government fake the 9/11 terror attacks? Was the British establishment behind the death of Diana, Princess of Wales? Conspiracy theories like these may be a modern phenomenon, but the basic idea – that world events are controlled by cynically duplicitous schemers – is as old as history. When the heir to the English throne died in 1120, they said it was an accident – but it was an accident from which certain people benefited a great deal. When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, it was in response to blatant Polish aggression... which just happened to be the work of Nazi soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms. As Niccolò Machiavelli said 500 years ago, “the end justifies the means”. History is often dismissed as a dull subject, but it leaps into all-too-contemporary life when seen through the eyes of a Conspiracy Theorist! This fast-paced account tells you everything you need to know about the convenient accidents, false flag operations and hidden agendas that have shaped the course of history.

CONTENTS

Preface by Nick Redfern

Chapter 1: A brief introduction to conspiracy theories

Chapter 2: False flag incidents

Chapter 3: They acted alone - or did they?

Chapter 4: Hidden agendas

Chapter 5: Convenient deaths

Chapter 6: Secret identities

Chapter 7: The Illuminati and others

Chapter 8: Rewriting history

Chapter 9: Chronology of Conspiracy

About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and consultant.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conspiracy-History-World-Theorists/dp/1909698873/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415606569&sr=1-1&keywords=bretwalda+conspiracy

PRESS RELEASE - The Battle of Crug Mawr Cardigan 1136

 

PRESS RELEASE

 “The Battle of Crug Mawr Cardigan 1136”

New Welsh History Book Released Today

 

A gripping new book about the Battle of Crug Mawr at Cardigan, written by historian Leonard James, has been released today by Bretwalda Books as a printed book and ebook.

A book about the bloody Battle of Crug Mawr, fought near Cardigan, a key turning point in the Anglo-Welsh Wars of the 12th century.

 The sweeping victory of the Welsh at Cardigan was historic. It not only put the victor, Owain Gwynedd in a position to rule Wales free of English domination, it also marked the arrival on the battlefields of Europe of a new, deadly and uniquely Welsh weapon: the longbow.

A Welsh revolt against Norman rule had begun in south Wales, where on 1 January 1136 the Welsh won a victory over the local Norman forces at the Battle of Llwchwr. This led to an invasion by the forces of Gwynedd, led by Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, sons of the king of Gwynedd, Gruffydd ap Cynan. They made an alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth, then swept on for Cardigan. There they met the combined forces of all the Normans in South Wales. The resulting battle was vicious and historic

This book brings an exciting new look to the Anglo-Welsh Wars. The course of the war is given, but the emphasis is on the battle and the men who fought there. There are detailed analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies, tactical diagrams explain how the troops formed up and moved, and a study of the commanders. The course of the battle is followed with the aid of maps, relating to the ground today. The aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of the war are then described.

Author Leonard Jaems says “I was delighted to write this book as I have long had an interest in medieval warfare. Handling replica weapons and armour has allowed me to gain new respect for the men who fought here.”

About the Author

Leonard James is an author of military books. He comes from a military family that has fought in every major war since at least the Crimean War, and probably before that. His forebears were mostly cavalrymen, though his father served in the RAF. Leonard has made a particular study of battlefields in Britain, walking over dozens of them to get an eye for ground. He has also handled genuine and replica weapons to better understand the use of pre-modern weapons and the men who wielded them.

Attached photos show:

1) The Book cover

2) A Welsh archer of the period

3) A Norman knight

4) An English infantryman

5) Cardigan Castle & the River Teifi which featured in the battle.

Additional photos and artworks available on request.

About the Book

Title:               The Battle of Crug Mawr (Cardigan) 1136

Author            Leonard James

ISBN                978-1-909698-91-8

Publisher       Bretwalda Books

Price               £4.99