Rebecca’s Country

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 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.

‘Fascinating, moving, and extremely well told.’
Lucy Worsley, historian, author, curator and television presenter

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

‘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