Subtitled A History Of Wales 1962-97, the chosen starting and endpoints of Brittle With Relics are arguable, of course, but not arbitrary. Plaid Cymru founder Saunders Lewis first rallies his countrymen to a defence of the imperilled national language via a radio broadcast; 35 years later an exceedingly narrow vote in favour of devolution pre-empts the Welsh Assembly.

King has spoken to a cast of several dozen politicians, activists and artists – many quoted fit into two or three categories – to outline those cultural bookends and ones in between. Aberfan and Tryweryn; nationalist pressure groups from the gentle to the psychotic; the miners’ strike, naturally, but also the half-decade of Thatcherism either side of it; the evolving creative culture, sometimes an exclusively Welsh concern and on other occasions, topping the UK pop charts.

Though King provides introductory context throughout each chapter, most of the words are from his interview subjects, and it is they who make this book a fascinating overview. Many will have opinions on what was not discussed, and some of the topics will mean nothing even to Welsh people who lived through this period, but for a modern social history of a nation beset by cultural fissures Brittle With Relics covers impressive ground.