Here, illustrated in words and pictures, are landscapes, besieged castles, garrison towns and hidden villages and valleys of Wales. The text starts in the South, at Chepstow and travels to Chester in the North. Peters reveals the history of the people and places of the Marches, describing their story of claim and counter-claim, Welsh risings and English attacks, siege and defence, captures and burnings. It is the story of the great families of medieval times: teh Mortimers and Henry Hotspur, Offa, King of Mercia, constructor of the Dyke, the Marcher earls and the Welsh Prince Llewelyn.