a nation on trial
penyberth 1936
Dafydd
Jenkins
Translated from the Welsh by Ann Corkett
Foreword by Dr. John Davies
This important book throws a good deal of
light on one of the defining moments of Welsh politics in the 20th century.
Reading it sent a cold shudder down my spine
Western Mail, 1999
To understand what has happened, in ideological terms, in Wales since
[Penyberth]...the growth of a great patriotic movement
and the long-awaited dynamic towards self-determination, this story needs to be read
Cambria Magazine
Mae'r gyfrol...yn darllen fel rhaglen
deledu fyw. Heb os mae'r gyfrol werthfawr hon yn sicr yn ail gynneu'r drafodaeth ac fe
allai fod yn agoriad llygad i laweroedd
Y Cymro
This is the first government
that has tried to put Wales on trial.
David Lloyd George
the first time...since the
days of Owain Glyndwr that charges of lawbreaking have been brought against the
protagonists of Welsh Independence.
Western Mail, 1937
On 8 September 1936, in what is
recognised as one of the defining moments in modern Welsh history, a Baptist minister, a
University lecturer and a school teacher set fire to the partly built RAF aerodrome at
Penyberth, then calmly reported their actions to the police at nearby Pwllheli, north
Wales. The 'Fire' represented the final act in an unsuccessful eighteen month battle to
prevent the building of an RAF bombing school on the Llyn Peninsular. On the proposed site
stood an old stone house that had been, in the Middle Ages, a resting place for pilgrims
on their way to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island - The Isle of Saints) traditionally believed to
be the burial ground of 20,000 saints such as Padarn, Dyfrig and Beuno.
A Nation on Trial is the first
comprehensive account of the 'Fire' to be published in English and includes an updated
Introduction from the author, sixty one years after the publication of the original Welsh
language edition.
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