The Story of Wales

This six-part BBC-aired history of Wales covers a 30,000-year time span, beginning with the Ice Age in the British Isles and concluding with the nation's place in today's globalized world. The presenter is Welsh-born BBC anchorman Huw Edwards, who is obviously at home with the subject (and capable of pronouncing those notoriously tongue-twisty Welsh place-names). Viewers learn about the Roman imperial occupation and its aftermath, which left Britain divided into several tribal territories, followed by the emergence of a unified Wales on the southwestern coast in the 9th and 10th centuries under ambitious local kings. The chronology addresses early evidence that the ancient Welsh had extensive trading relations with Scandinavia and other European cultures (no mention is made of the alt-history theory that an Irish monk named Brendan sailed across the Atlantic and visited North America before Columbus); the legal codes of King Howell the Good and the translated Welsh-language Bible that helped unite the populace; and a coal-mining expansion that modernized the country, condemned low-paid workers to lives of danger and exploitation, and nurtured political activism and a support base for Britain's Labor Party. The final hour chronicles the 1960s agitation (not at all universal among the Welsh) for self-governance, and looks at the state of affairs today. With its exhaustive timeline and impressive coverage of Welsh customs, heroes, achievements, controversies, landmarks, and tragedies (much of which is generally unknown to North American audiences), this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (C. Cassady)