'Gwent in prehistory and early history' is the first in a major series of five authoritative volumes on the history of Gwent from Prehistoric times to the end of the twentieth century. In this vast time-span, south-east Wales has been at the heart of historic changes that have affected both England and Wales. Volume 2 covers the history of Gwent from pre-historic times to the twentieth century. It deals with the Age of the Marcher Lordships, 1070-1536, from the coming of the Norman conquerors to the acts of Union between Wales and England, dealing with many aspects of the region's history. The third volume in this fascinating series is a study of the early modern period, from the creation of Monmouthshire by the Act of Union in 1536 to the beginnings of industrialization in the later eighteenth century. It explores the social concerns of this period, including the growth of urbanity and the commercial world, education, poverty and civil war, as well as religion, politics and landownership. The fourth volume in the county history of Gwent/Monmouthshire deals with the explosion of industrial development from 1780 to the eve of the First World War, and as such is first authoritative treatment of the transformation of south-east Wales into a centre of the iron and coal industry. Its comprehensive e treatment encompasses social and economic developments, cultural and language changes whose legacy is with us still, political and religious movements that created new loyalties and identities among the county's population, and all in a period that saw the transformation of what was hitherto a rural county into one that was a significant part of industrial and commercial Britain. At the same time, the population expanded at a greater pace than ever before, with migrations of industrial workers that altered the linguistic and cultural make-up of the county. Chapters deal with the rural life, the iron, steel and coal industries, communications and commerce, population movements and their implications for urban society and the spoken languages and literacy, the relationship between Church and chapel, developments in education, recreation and the arts, local government and the place of Monmouthshire in national politics, culminating in popular opinion and protest (including Chartism and trade unionism in an industrialised society).