Rebecca's Country - by Rhian E Jones (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In nineteenth-century Wales, a protest took place like no other. Burdened by punishing tolls and desperate for their livelihoods, protestors dramatically cross-dressed in carnivalesque costumes to attack the tollbooths. Inspired by the enigmatic biblical figure of Rebecca, they went on to attack other symbols of injustice, redistribute wealth, and clash with both local authorities and the national government. In Rebecca's Country, historian Rhian E. Jones explores the background, chronology, and achievements of the Rebecca movement. She offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and how they responded to the sweeping and severe changes of the early nineteenth century, telling the human stories behind this dramatic history."--

Book Synopsis

A study of the Rebecca movement's fight against high taxation and poverty in nineteenth-century Wales.

In nineteenth-century Wales, a protest took place like no other. Burdened by punishing tolls and desperate for their livelihoods, protestors dramatically cross-dressed in carnivalesque costumes to attack the tollbooths. Inspired by the enigmatic biblical figure of Rebecca, they went on to attack other symbols of injustice, redistribute wealth, and clash with both local authorities and the national government.

In Rebecca's Country, historian Rhian E. Jones explores the background, chronology, and achievements of the Rebecca movement. She offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and how they responded to the sweeping and severe changes of the early nineteenth century, telling the human stories behind this dramatic history.

Review Quotes

"Rhian E Jones has written a story of riot and resistance that is a model of how to bring history alive and make it sing for today."-- "Socialist Worker"

"So, at a time of strike waves and rural unrest, there are many lessons from Rebeccaism. Industrial workers in struggle were evoking Rebeccaism for decades afterwards, and Rebecca's Country is a great introduction to the movement and brilliant analysis of it. As Rhian says: 'Many problems familiar to our Victorian ancestors - poverty, high rents, unemployment, the privatization of common space, the policing of protest - either have never gone away or are making a stark return.'"-- "Socialist Party"

"This is not simply a story of good poor Welsh people and bad rich English and Welsh folk. It rarely is.

Jones reveals humanity in all its nuance."-- "Nation.Cymru"

"A crucial history and brilliant contribution to our knowledge of modern Wales."-- "Katrina Navickas, Professor of History, University of Hertfordshire"

"Fascinating, moving, and extremely well told."-- "Lucy Worsley, historian, author, curator and television presenter"

"Deeply researched and brilliantly written, Rhian Jones takes the cartoonish basics of the Rebecca we remember from school and recasts the story as a fast-paced thriller, full of colourful characters, windswept West Walian landscapes and bristling contemporary relevance"-- "Dylan Moore, Cwlwm editor and author of Driving Home Both Ways"

"This is a fascinating and original interpretation of important (often trivialised) events. It places west Wales firmly within the general discussion of changes in the early nineteenth century and the transition to industrial society. Well told, with evocative detail and flashes of brilliance, it also has lessons for today and the ways we understand the paths of deindustrialisation."-- "Huw Beynon, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Cardiff University"

"Written with the pace and drama of a thriller, this superb account of one of the oddest and most inspiring of insurgent movements is a timely reminder of a past that is too often sanitised and patronised."-- "Owen Hatherley, writer, author of Landscapes of Communism"

About the Author

Rhian E. Jones is a writer, critic, and broadcaster from South Wales. She is co-editor of Red Pepper and writes for Tribune magazine. Her books include Clampdown: Pop-Cultural Wars on Class and Gender; Petticoat Heroes: Gender, Culture and Popular Protest, Triptych: Three Studies of Manic Street Preachers' The Holy Bible; the anthology Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them; and Paint Your Town Red: How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too.