The Naval History of Wales

Based on extensive research, The Naval History of Wales tells a compelling story that spans nearly 2,000 years, from the Romans to the present. Many Welsh men and women have served in the Royal Navy and the navies of other countries. Welshmen played major parts in voyages of exploration, in the navy's suppression of the slave trade, and in naval warfare from the Viking era to the Spanish Armada, in the American Civil War, both world wars and the Falklands War. Comprehensive, enlightening, and provocative, The Naval History of Wales also explodes many myths about Welsh history, naval historian J.D. Davies arguing that most Welshmen in the sailing navy were volunteers and that, relative to the size of national populations, proportionately more Welsh seamen than English fought at Trafalgar. Written in vivid detail, this volume is one that no maritime or Welsh historian can do without.

J.D. Davies is a leading authority on British seventeenth-century naval history. His naval non-fiction book Pepys's Navy won the Samuel Pepys prize in 2009. He is chairman of the Naval Dockyards Society, a vice president of the Navy Records Society, a member of the Council of the Society for Nautical Research, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.