Edward I s conquest of Wales was a key formative event in the history of Britain but it has not been the subject of a scholarly book for over 100 years Research has advanced since then changing our perception of the medieval military mind & shining fresh light on the key characters involved in the conquest That is why Sean Davies s absorbing new study is so timely & important He takes a balanced approach giving both the Welsh & English perspectives on the war & on the brutal mistrustful & ruthless personal motives that drove events His account is set in the context of Welsh warfare & society from the end of Rome to the time of Edward s opening campaign in the late thirteenth century The narrative describes in vivid detail the military history of the conflict the sequence of campaigns Welsh resistance Edward s castle building & English colonization & the cost of the struggle to the Welsh & the English & the uneasy peace that followed