"This new edition tells the story of the Merthyr Rising, the first move to independent political action by the ironstone miners and puddlers of William Crawshay II following the Reform Bill of 1831, tabled after many years of an unjust electoral system. On 2 June, 1831, thousands of workers under a red flag broke into insurrection. The rebels drove the military out of Merthyr and were crushed only after some 800 troops had concentrated on the town. One man was hanged as an example to others: Richard Lewis, a miner of 23, known as Die Penderyn. Today, Die Penderyn is more alive than Richard Lewis ever was, as a martyr and folk hero, he has lived on in the memory of south Wales. ... "--Back cover.