Dr Martin Johnes is from Pembrokeshire and took his BA and PhD at Cardiff University. He subsequently held research posts at the universities of Oxford and Cardiff, before taking up a lectureship at St Martin’s College (of Higher Education) in Lancaster. He joined the Swansea History Department in 2006. He is a Past Chairman of the British Society of Sports History, and a member of the Swansea Centre for the History of Wales and its Borderlands. His previous books include A History of Sport in Wales (2005) and, with Iain Mclean, Aberfan: Government and Disasters (2000). Some of his articles and papers can be downloaded from his website: http://swansea.academia.edu/MartinJohnes. He tweets at http://twitter.com/martinjohnes

Raise the Alarm

Often dismissed as uncool and derided for a musical style that wore its heart on its sleeve, The Alarm nevertheless remain an important band in the history of Welsh rock ‘n roll

What are academic historians for?

The role and value of historians is often subjected to sneered derision. But in reality they have a vital role to play in developing a forward-thinking 21st Century Wales