Book Zone
In this section we will feature new library stock of local interest as we get them. Just click on the titles to request them through the online library catalogue.
CHRIS MUSSON: Montgomeryshire Past & Present from the Air [published by The Powysland Club and The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust]
Chris Musson was a pioneer of the technique of aerial reconnaissance as way of learning more about landscape use. As the former Director of The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust he knows Montgomeryshire well having begun his aerial surveys there and he went on to become Aerial Photography Investigator with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. He has been involved in the publication of aerial surveys of Wales, Herefordshire and Shropshire and so is perfectly placed undertake the present survey Montgomeryshire.
Divided into four sections, the first part gives a survey of landscape use across the county from the Neolithic to modern times. In the remaining sections he takes us one three imaginary flights to different areas of the county taking a look at how humans have used the landscape from the Neolithic tomb to the car rally. As well as some older aerial photographs, the book includes LiDAR images showing how newer technologies can reveal even more about landscape use over the centuries. Highly recommended.
BARRY C. BURNHAM & JEFFREY L. DAVIES (Eds.): Roman Frontiers in Wales and the Marches (RCAHMW)
From the first century AD to the end of the fourth century or later the tribal peoples inhabiting Wales and its borderlands felt the full impact of the might of the Roman imperial army, both as a fighting force and an occupation garrison.
This book describes and analyses the remains of the Roman army’s permanent structures in Wales and the Marches. The first part contains a series of chapters dealing with the history of military activity, followed by analyses of installations, communication systems, extramural settlements and discussions of the army's impact on the environment and the native economy.
The second part is a comprehensive gazetteer of known, probable and possible military sites and Roman roads, allowing us to check the Roman presence in our county. The book is well illustrated with photographs of excavations and remains and the Royal Commission’s trademark aerial photography, giving the real sense of the Roman presence in the landscape. Excellent too are the geophysical surveys of some of the bigger sites which reveal a townscape without a trowel being put to it.
An excellent and up-to-date addition to the field.
