Thomas H. Sawyer Knihy

"The Welsh Language in Cardiff: A History of Survival" completely demolishes the myth perpetuated by many that Cardiff has always been an English-speaking town. With the use of sources as varied as personal and field names, cour records, diaries and legal documents, Owen John Thomas shows conclusively that while the Welsh and English languages waxed and waned in the small walled town of Cardiff, both were actually always present. We learn that Cardiff's labouring classes and prostitutes living out their lives in the slums spoke Welsh, as well as the city's middle class and sober chapel-going Nonconformists.

This novel is a thank you, but it may not seem that way at first. As Owen struggles through a life of abuse and violence, good people start to notice, because there are good people in this world. He will get a small respite in children's homes. But then his family moves back to Gosport and his missing brother is found in the pill box, where our story began. As the final struggle comes, he will need the help of all the good people he knows. He will have to trust someone and they will need to pray. You can do a lot of praying in the dead of the night.

Countering recent arguments that we should "unbundle" or "disrupt" higher education, Jason Owen-Smith argues that research universities are unique gems that deserve our financial and social support. While they are complex and costly, their enduring value is threefold: they simultaneously act as sources of new knowledge, anchors for regional and national economies, and hubs that connect disparate parts of society. Based on his stellar research, he offers a stirring and timely defense of an endangered class of institutions just in time.