Book Review by Dr. Rob Morgan.

          Books written on any aspect of early warfare in Wales are so rarely published, yet Dr Erik Grigg’s “Warfare, Raiding and Defence in Early Medieval Britain” (Hale: The Crowood Press. 212 pp. Hb.2018….£22) is undoubtedly a treasure trove for the Welsh historian and battlefield enthusiast. In fact this well written and well illustrated volume deals with warfare and defensive structures across all of Britain between AD400 and AD850, and approaches it from an interesting, unusual perspective.

In six chapters, Dr Grigg examines and provides a detailed guide to the military and defensive earthworks built during those centuries Through the archaeological evidence, the substantial written evidence; and in two extended appendices, he lists, measures and describes almost a hundred dykes constructed for purposes of war. In terms of the peninsula we now know as Wales, Grigg’s text and maps detail around forty dykes ( Clawdd) from Clawdd Seri in Gwynedd to Clawdd Mawr in Carmarthen, and Cefn Morfydd above Neath. Many are photographed, all are mapped, and there are incidentally, some eighty photographs in the book, most in colour.

With great skill, Dr. Grigg links the building of these earthworks to the main military activity in Wales, and elsewhere in Britain during these centuries, raiding! Raiding was the driving force behind much of the political and cultural change of that distant time, and the author calls it ‘The Epitome of Early Medieval Warfare’, which is absolutely true. In one short thirty page chapter he analyses how raids worked, and the use of counter-raiding measures, this applies clearly to war in Wales. There are some detailed notes provided on weapons as well, and I would recommend this section of the book to all members of the Society, even if the broader topic of the construction of the Clawdd does not appeal.

However, when linked, dykes and raids seem to have significant importance in terms of Welsh warfare, the movement of forces, the existence and control of battlefield encounter sites too. The book, incidentally, provides a remarkable number of valuable biographical footnotes and these are undoubtedly worth members examining. This is a subject that surely, lies at the heart of the Society’s existence and a book which though it ventures far beyond Wales’ borders, is well worth consideration. It is certainly, in Welsh terms, a subject which would benefit from a great deal more research and investigation.