Rebecca’s Country

A study of the Rebecca movement's fight against high taxation and poverty in nineteenth-century Wales.

In nineteenth-century Wales, a protest took place like no other. Burdened by punishing tolls and desperate for their livelihoods, protestors dramatically cross-dressed in carnivalesque costumes to attack the tollbooths. Inspired by the enigmatic biblical figure of Rebecca, they went on to attack other symbols of injustice, redistribute wealth, and clash with both local authorities and the national government.

In Rebecca’s Country, historian Rhian E. Jones explores the background, chronology, and achievements of the Rebecca movement. She offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and how they responded to the sweeping and severe changes of the early nineteenth century, telling the human stories behind this dramatic history.