Kingmakers: How Power in England has Won and Lost on the Welsh Frontier

For a medieval English king, delegation was a necessary evil; and nowhere more necessary - nor more potentially disastrous - than on the Anglo-Welsh borders. The Marcher lords first empowered by William I were relied upon by subsequent Norman and Plantagenet kings to protect the dangerous frontiers of the realm.

In Wales, as in Ireland, the smaller size and military weakness of divided neighbouring states encouraged conquest, with the seized lands enhancing the power of the aggressive Englis...