"Hope and Heartbreak looks in an entirely new way at the social history of Wales between the years 1776 and 1871. This innovative book challenges a large number of generally held views about Wales, and tries to offer an alternative history of the country's idiosyncrasies and contradictions. To do this a wide range of evidence is considered to present the ambitions and anxieties which drove and destroyed Welsh people." "Russell Davies's study ranges far and wide, from landlords to peasants, rich and poor, in the north and the south. Diet and housing, disease and death, rural festivals, prisons and mental hospitals, work and worries, fear and anger, love and lust, wizards and wonders, bastards and ballads and happiness and humour are only a few of the topics covered in this all-encompassing social history. The tensions beneath the facade of family life, the vigour of prostitution and pornography and the private world of the individual are investigated. Using the life experiences of individuals, Hope and Heartbreak opens up the hidden world of the people of Wales." "The book asks a range of questions which are new to Welsh history. Was Wales a land of passionless women and pure men, or were there passionate sensualists amongst the pious saints? What made the Welsh fearful, tearful, happy, lonely, self-conscious, anxious, bored, hysterical and violent? How did they behave as capitalists, colonists and conquerors? How can one make sense of their religious doubts and disputes? Did religion lead to a decline in magic? There is also a detailed examination of the joie de vivre, the forgotten humour and the unique flavour of Welsh laughter."--BOOK JACKET.