Customer Reviews

Rape of the Fair Country

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

am amazed that this book seems so obscure;1 other review! Ive read extensively including all of the great and renowned authors in most modern lists-this book would be up there in any list in terms of the quality of the writing.Cordell brings the welsh character to life with 3 dimensional people enduring the bitter hardships of 19th century mining life.Humorous,tragic,heartfelt,real 'The rape of the fair country' is a must read for those searching for pure quality;unlike many novels relating struggle or hardship this one stands above,resonates truth and emotion and leaves the reader with an indelible memory.There are two more in the series of the Mortimer family but this is the best of them. Told through the eyes of the younger son Iestyn in a first person account the language will charm,the plot will intrigue and the characters will be endear with a real ring of truth.At times earthy and sensuous,never falsely romantic this book is a gem that surprisingly seems to have missed out on any mainstream recognition.Dont be misled by that ,with this book you wont be disappointed

If you are of Welsh ancestry or if you are traveling through the south of Wales and up into the Brecon Beacons, this is a must read. It is full of the plight of the Welsh mena and women, their life and love and trouble. Centered around a wonderful family, Alexander Cordell brings you into their homes and lives and the mines in which they toil. The strugle with the British elite that leads upto the Jack Frost rebellion.

The novel is followed by two other books that follow a son escaping the British tirany by going to the United States where he becomes, of course, a miner.

The flavor of the green hills dotted with sheep and the lush valleys along with the deep history of the land and the people make this a delightful book, especially if you have roots there.

I heartily agree with the other readers of this wonderful book who have given it 5 stars. I first read it as a teenager back in my native Wales and was fascinated by its accurate historical detail and wonderful earthy characters - I think it exlains better than any other novel of its type the eternal struggle of the Celts against their Anglo-Saxon would-be conquerors, and why we (the Celts) are so different. Had this book been written about Scotland or Ireland, I am sure it would have been made into an Oscar-winning movie by now!

I first read these books as a teenager growing up in Wales and the characters and events portrayed by Cordell have stayed with me all my life, very powerfully written. An amazing read, gives a wonderful insight into the reality for the working family during the industrial revolution, also gives background to the events that shaped Wales and Welsh people into the 20th century.

If you liked this, remember it is the first part of a fabulous trilogy - Next is 'Hosts of Rebecca' then comes 'Song of the Earth' probably the funniest and warmest book of the three.

"The Fair Country" is rural Wales and this is a novel of the industrial revolution - or rather, a polemic against it.

The story is set in a Welsh valley, and begins in 1826. It describes how the valley became a centre of iron production, and is highly critical of the human cost of industrialisation.

The writing is quite moving and powerful, and will be what most people read this book for.

The attitudes presented in "Rape of the Fair Country" are rather one-sided and simplistic. Over the last century, the word "luddite" has become a pejorative term of abuse to mean someone who is mindlessly opposed to technological change or reform approved of by the person using the word. This novel is literally pro-luddite in the original sense of that expression in that the heroes and heroines of the book are opposed to the human cost of the industrial revolution.

The book represents the government and ironmasters as a machiavellian evil, and the Welsh working men who eventually rise against them as brave and noble but foolhardy.

I was initially tempted to caricature this book by desribing it as so pro-luddite as to make the Teamsters union seem like the John Birch society by comparison. However, that would be a little unfair, as the book also depicts the awful results which can follow if people are too quick to resort to force, even in what would otherwise be a just cause, without thinking through the consequences.

Rape of the Fair Country is the first of a trilogy of books which were recommended to me by a Welsh friend.
They are historical novels, written 50 years ago by a Welsh author.
The books should be read in order:
Rape of the Fair Country
Hosts of Rebecca
Song of the Earth
I have read the first two and found them informative, entertaining but depressing as they follow a poor Welsh family for two generations, suffering from exploitation by coal mine owners, foundry owners, absentee landowners and the authorities in 19th Century
Wales.
It would help to have a map of Wales nearby when you read it and a friend who could explain some of the terms and expressions used.

I have already passed the book on to another friend and am now searching for the 3rd book.

Written from the perspective of a young boy growing to adulthood in early nineteenth century industrial Wales, the story leaps at you from the very first page and holds you utterly enthralled until the last. Living in south Wales, I can hear the words in the book spoken on virtually every street corner. Cordell seems to have absorbed both the heart and soul of his adopted home and he has oozed it into every page of this book.

Leaving the safe embrace of his family at a ridiculously young age, Iestyn Mortymer enters the world of iron-making alongside his father, Hywel. The base savagery of his situation leaps from each chapter, but is also interspersed with episodes of love and poignancy, encapsulating the tension at the heart of the novel. Survival depended upon work that maimed and killed many and yet, even without strikes and lockouts, you had to scratch a life from the precious little the iron masters were willing to share with their workers. Eventually, social tensions erupted into the last great revolt in British history. Here, Cordell is masterful in weaving threads of real events into his harrowing narrative. The excitement in the book builds as workers band together and march for the freedoms they crave, just as the real workers did so many years ago.

This is an astonishing read on so many levels. As fast-paced as an adventure, as real as a trip to the local, and infused with actual events that tell the almost forgotten history of Wales. How can anyone ask for more in a book?

This is an excellent book. This is the kind of history that should be taught in Welsh schools. Apart from that, I agree with all the well written (5 star) reviews. Da Iawn!

I am 27 and embarrassed to say that "Rape of the fair country" is the first book I've really read, but what a way to start! When you begin reading the book you soon become inseparable for you feel as though you are part of the "Mortymer" family. Its a tragic but beutiful tale of life at the begining of this century in the iron works of the South Wales Valleys. But it's an eye opener into the world we live in today. (Some third world countries). It makes you appreciate our past and be thankful of what we have today. A trully wonderfull read.

I am amazed that this book seems so obscure;1 other review?!Ive read extensively including all of the great and renowned authors in most modern lists-this book would be up there in any list in terms of the quality of the writing.Cordell brings the welsh character to life with 3 dimensional people enduring the bitter hardships of 19th century mining life.Humorous,tragic,heartfelt,real 'The rape of the fair country' is a must read for those searching for pure quality;unlike many novels relating struggle or hardship this one stands above,resonates truth and emotion and leaves the reader with an indelible memory.There are two more in the series of the Mortimer family but this is the best of them. Told through the eyes of the younger son Iestyn in a first person account the language will charm,the plot will intrigue and the characters will be endear with a real ring of truth.At times earthy and sensuous,never falsely romantic this book is a gem that surprisingly seems to have missed out on any mainstream recognition.Dont be misled by that ,with this book you wont be disappointed