Product Description

From the great citadels of Caernarvon, Harlech, Powis and Beaumaris in the north, to the Victorian glories of Cardiff in the south, St David's cathedral ('the loveliest church in Wales') in the west to the exquisite little hill church of Patrishow in the east, from Plas Newydd above the Menai Straits to the romantic citadel of Carreg Cennan in the heart of the country, the buildings of Wales embody its history and are the equal of any in the British Isles. Simon Jenkins has travelled, it seems, every mile of the country to celebrate, and in some cases to find the very best of them, and irresistibly conveys in this book his enthusiasm for them. Cumulatively they amount to a cultural history of Wales by one of its most devoted sons. Anyone who is visiting Wales or who loves it will want to own this glorious book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6839 in Books
• Published on: 2008-12-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

About the Author
Simon Jenkins is Chairman of the National Trust and one of Britain's most prominent journalists. He writes a column for the Guardian, has edited both the Evening Standard and The Times, and has written many books on politics, history and architecture, including England's Thousand Best Churches and England's Thousand Best Houses, both published by Penguin. His most recent book was Thatcher and Sons. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and lives in London and Aberdyfi.

Customer Reviews

Wales?
Like Simon Jenkins I am 'half Welsh' and have lived my whole life outside of Wales, rarely visiting the land of my fathers.
I wanted a book that would:
a) kindle a somehow lost enthusiasm to visit and explore
b) help me overcome my woeful ignorance of Welsh history
I am delighted with this book for it scores on both counts. It is, apart from anything else, beautifully written, and conveys on every page, Simon Jenkins' obvious love for and knowledge of his subject, and it is permeated by both humour and intelligence. It is nicely opinionated as well as being well researched - thereby avoiding all of the normal cliche's and gloss that tourist boards regularly push out (and which is actually a turn-off for me). The intoduction is a tour de force in my view, encapsulating quite brilliantly the panorama of Wales' history in less that 40 pages, and explaining things that I never knew (and had become too ashamed to ask about)- the Romans in Wales,
The illustrations are almost all absolutely excellent, and the balance between text and illustration is perfect - no fancy Dorling Kindersley type graphics that make every page a piece of wallpaper.
This is a serious book, and a seriously good one. Wales should, on the strength of it, be having rather more visitors from beyond the Marches this year. I shall be one of them.

Sprinkled with innacuracies
I am no expert on the subject and I didn't set out to check any of the text of this book which was lent to me and highly recommended. I was planning to buy a copy. I wasn't looking for errors but in several sections of the book I spotted mistakes; some of which are detailed below. Most of the places in the book are unknown to me so I have no idea how accurate is the rest of the text and I haven't read it all.

Page 30: "...Gwrych Castle overlooking Colwyn Bay..." It doesn't. The town of Colwyn Bay cannot be seen from the castle and it doesn't overlook the Bay of Colwyn.
Page 57 (Bodelwyddan Castle): "Bodelwyddan was rescued by Clwyd County Council with a consortium of Warner low-cost hotels, saviour of a dozen English houses and in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery...."
In fact Clwyd County Council bought the castle in the 1980s without Warner involvement. In 1994 the Council leased part of the site to the Rank Organisation for its first Warner Holidays Hotel. There is a partnership with the National Portrait gallery.
Page 76 (Denbigh): "a tablet at the back of the church commemorates a local man, Twm o'r Nant.." It does, but I am surprised that he doesn't mention that Twm o'r Nant has a large tomb in the churchyard - signposted for visitors.
Page 82: "Llangar sits on the bank of the upper Dee as it curves towards Bala between the Berwyn and Arenig mountains". The church is on the hillside above the river, which is flowing from Bala, not towards it.
Page 204 (Conwy): "Thomas Telford's box girder bridge (1848)..." Telford's bridge is the suspension bridge (a National Trust property), which is not mentioned! The bridge he attributes to Telford is Robert Stephenson's railway bridge!!
Page 224 (Betws y Coed): He refers to the old church (St Michael's) and says "This is locked, sadly..." Yes it is, most of the time, but the key is easily obtainable from the nearby Railway Museum or the Tourist Office.

Wales - Castles, Houses & Churches
Very well written book on the variety of interesting and sometimes obsure buildings of interest within Wales. Many are overlooked as we go about our daily life and are also not acknowledged on our visits.

A very helpful guide to planning a visit with many of the venues explained by there historical importance to the Kingdom of Wales whether it be kindship, religious or common everyday life. As with all books there is never enough space to include everything but the layout into counties/regions is very helpful.

There is a need though for a detailed map alongside you when you read the entries to enable you to locate the precise location of some of the 'off the beaten track' sites.

Should give hours of enjoyable reading. Could possibly do with some extra more enlightening photographic additions. But sure you can make your own when visiting some of the locations/buildings.