Intelligent Town

Dr Louise Miskell is a lecturer in History at the University of Wales Swansea.

• I Introduction Ii 'Prejudicial To Our Ancient Rights And Privileges': Urban Governance, C.1780-1800 Iii 'Many Advantages Not To Be Found In Any Other Part Of Wales': Improvement And Identity, C.1800-1820 Iv 'A Degree Of Commercial And Manufacturing Importance': Industrialization And Regional Status V 'The Content And Comfort Of The Workmen': The Swansea Populace And Social Relations Vi'Cutting Each Other's Throats By Our Unhappy Divisions': Local Government In The Post-Reform Era Vii'There Is A Spirit Of Intelligence Abroad': Urban Elites And Urban Culture Viii Conclusion

"This is a marvellous book, lucid, lively and well written which shifts the focus of Welsh history in the early nineteenth-century away from the well-ploughed path to Merthyr and engages with a civic place in which science and learning were valued. It asks new questions not simply about Swansea but also about the whole industrial and urban experience of Wales in the early nineteenth century." - Neil Evans, Cardiff University "...a consistently absorbing account of Swansea's own mini-Enlightenment. It is a groundbreaking and challenging model for the further analysis of the formative influence of such elites elsewhere in Wales." Nigel Jenkins, Planet, Issue 181"This is an admirable 'urban history', beautifully written throughout, and fascinating because it turns the spotlight on ignored and neglected features of our history, the urban middle classes."Prys Morgan, Morgannwg, Volume L 2006