100 Great Welsh Women

Last updated

100 Great Welsh Women
100 Great Welsh Women.jpg
Cover of 2001 paperback edition
AuthorTerry Breverton
CountryWales
LanguageEnglish
Genre Biography
PublisherGlyndwr Publishing
Publication date
2 November 2001
Media typePaperback
Pages304
ISBN 9781903529041

100 Great Welsh Women is a collection of short biographies of prominent women from Wales, or of Welsh origin, published in 2001 by Terry Breverton. It covers women from all walks of life, including athletes, actresses, saints, singers and queens.

Contents

Background

100 Great Welsh Women was written by Terry Breverton and published in 2001. [1] Breverton is a historian who has written more than 20 books. [2] The books are typically on subjects related to Wales and include 100 Great Welshmen, An A-Z of Wales and the Welsh, The Secret Vale of Glamorgan and The Book of Welsh Saints. [3]

Content and style

The book opens with a biography of the 5th–6th century Saint Almedha and ends with the 19th century Jane Williams. [3] The book includes biographies of Tracy Edwards, yachtswoman, who in 1997 traveled 1,516 miles (2,440 km) in four days across the Atlantic with a 10-woman crew; Petula Clark, the popular singer; Megan Lloyd George, the politician and feminist; Queen Elizabeth I of England; Bette Davis, the film star; Saint Claudia; Saint Darerca and the famous Queen Boudica, who led British resistance against the Romans. [1] Other biographies include the singers Charlotte Church and Shirley Bassey; the athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson; Nell Gwyn, the mistress of Charles II; Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great; and the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. [3] Also covered are Kylie Minogue, Nest ferch Rhys, George Eliot, Sarah Siddons, Siân Phillips, Laura Ashley, Mary Quant, Myrna Loy and Esther Williams. [4]

The book is carefully researched and well written. The selection of subjects is somewhat idiosyncratic, and readers may disagree with the author's choice. For example, Breverton states that he chose to exclude Margaret Roberts, better known as Margaret Thatcher, due to his dislike of that famous Prime Minister's policies. [1]

Publication

100 Great Welsh Women was published as a paperback by Glyndwr Publishing, St. Athan, in November 2001. It has 304 pages, and includes 72 black-and-white photographs. As of 2016 it was out of print. [1]

Reception

The book gained attention in the media mainly because it included the Australian pop star Kylie Minogue. [5] Meic Stephens wrote of 100 Great Welshmen and 100 Great Welsh Women in the Western Mail Magazine on 16 March 2002, "These are not necessarily books that you want to read from cover to cover, but to browse in ... Both are really extraordinary achievements by a single author whose industry and enterprise seem to show no bounds." [6] Norma Penfold of the Welsh Books Council wrote, "All in all, 100 Great Welsh Women is an informative reference book as well as a fascinating read." [1] Jonathan Hourigan wrote in the Sunday Express, "Breverton's breadth, generosity and sheer enthusiasm about Wales are compelling." [5] According to Dr Peter N. Williams, "The book is an absolute must for all those who value their Welsh heritage, and for all those who wish to see Welsh women accorded their rightful place in history." [3]

Notes

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 Penfold.
    2. Breverton 2012b.
    3. 1 2 3 4 Williams 2002.
    4. Helmich 2001.
    5. 1 2 Hourigan 2002.
    6. Stephens 2002.

    Sources

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kylie Minogue</span> Australian singer and actress (born 1968)

    Kylie Ann Minogue is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Minogue is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinventing herself in music as well as fashion, and is referred to by the European press as the "Princess of Pop" and a style icon. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, three Brit Awards and eighteen ARIA Music Awards.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">William Williams Pantycelyn</span> Welsh hymnist, poet and prose writer (1717–1791)

    William Williams, Pantycelyn, also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally seen as Wales's premier hymnist. He is also rated among the great literary figures of Wales, as a writer of poetry and prose. In religion he was among the leaders of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival, along with the evangelists Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland.

    <i>Light Years</i> (Kylie Minogue album) 2000 studio album by Kylie Minogue

    Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records released it on 22 September 2000 in Australia; Parlophone released it on 25 September 2000 in the United Kingdom. Following the commercial failure of Impossible Princess (1997), Minogue left Deconstruction Records and took a hiatus from recording music. She signed with Parlophone in June 1999 and decided to return to her pop roots. She worked with various writers and producers, including Steve Anderson, Johnny Douglas, Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers, and Mark Picchiotti.

    <i>Fever</i> (Kylie Minogue album) 2001 studio album by Kylie Minogue

    Fever is the eighth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was released on 1 October 2001 internationally by Parlophone and later launched in the United States on 26 February 2002 by Capitol Records. Minogue worked with writers and producers such as Cathy Dennis, Rob Davis, Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, TommyD, Tom Nichols, Pascal Gabriel and others to create a disco and Europop-influenced dance-pop and nu-disco album. Other musical influences of the album range from synth-pop to club music.

    <i>Kylie Minogue</i> (album) 1994 album by Kylie Minogue

    Kylie Minogue is the fifth studio album recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Deconstruction released it in the United Kingdom on 19 September 1994, while a release was issued through Mushroom Records in Australia on the same date. After leaving Pete Waterman Entertainment, Minogue wanted to establish her credibility and signed with the independent record label Deconstruction in early 1993. She became involved with a diverse group of collaborators in order to experiment with different sounds. After generally unsuccessful sessions with Saint Etienne and The Rapino Brothers, Minogue collaborated with new producers including Brothers in Rhythm, M People, Farley & Heller, and Jimmy Harry.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">D. J. Williams (Welsh nationalist)</span> Welsh nationalist and writer

    David John Williams was one of the foremost Welsh-language writers of the twentieth century and a prominent Welsh nationalist.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't Get You Out of My Head</span> 2001 single by Kylie Minogue

    "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a song that was recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue for her eighth studio album, Fever (2001). Parlophone Records released the song as the album's lead single on 8 September 2001. "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which was written and produced by Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis, is a dance-pop, techno-pop and nu-disco song that is known for its "la la la" hook. Its lyrics are about obsession with a love interest. Music critics praised the song's production and Minogue's vocals and labelled it a highlight of Fever.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tydfil</span>

    Saint Tydfil is the legendary dedicatee of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The old parish church of St Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil is dedicated to her and is reputed to be the site of her death.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">T. E. Ellis</span> Welsh politician and leader of Cymru Fydd

    Thomas Edward Ellis, often known as T. E. Ellis or Tom Ellis, was a Welsh politician who was the leader of Cymru Fydd, a movement aimed at gaining home rule for Wales. Ellis was, for a time, the most prominent of a generation of Liberal politicians who emerged in Wales after 1886, who placed greater emphasis than the previous generation to a Welsh dimension to their politics. His early death in 1899 aged 40 added to the aura that surrounded his name.

    This article is about the particular significance of the year 1968 to Wales and its people.

    This article is about the particular significance of the year 1950 to Wales and its people.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">William Ambrose (Emrys)</span> Welsh-language poet and preacher, 1813–1873

    William Ambrose, whose bardic name was Emrys, was a 19th-century Welsh-language poet and preacher. Many sermons of his were published and some of his poems used as hymns.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">I Was Gonna Cancel</span> 2014 single by Kylie Minogue

    "I Was Gonna Cancel" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released as the second and final single from her twelfth studio album Kiss Me Once. The track was written and produced by American recording artist, songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams who she met while in Los Angeles, California. It was released in the United Kingdom on 11 May 2014 and a day later in the United States.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Curig</span>

    St Curig was a Celtic Roman Catholic bishop and saint of Wales during post Roman times.

    William Maurice (1620–1680) was a well-known seventeenth-century collector and transcriber of Welsh manuscripts and books from Denbighshire, Wales.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Breverton</span> British businessman and academic

    Terry D. Breverton is a British former businessman and academic who has written many books on subjects mainly related to Wales and seamen.

    This article is about the particular significance of the year 1718 to Wales and its people.

    Eirwen Meiriona St John Gwynn was a Welsh nationalist, writer, teacher and physicist. Born in Liverpool, she read physics at the University College of North Wales and later earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in that field in 1942. Gwynn taught physics at Rhyl Grammar School and later worked as an assistant account at the Government Exchequer and Audit Department. She then worked as a full-time lecturer for the Workers' Educational Association and was a freelance writer who created 1,500 works on social development and science in the English and Welsh printed press. Gwynn also authored multiple books and short stories, won awards during her career, promoted the Welsh language by being a member of four committees and served as president of two societies.

    Y Goeden Eirin is a 1946 collection of six modernist Welsh-language short stories by John Gwilym Jones, which has been described as "a milestone in the development of the Welsh short story". It introduced Freudianism and the stream-of-consciousness technique to Welsh literature. It was published in English translation as The Plum Tree and Other Short Prose (2004).