The Irish Sea is a sea passage of world-historical importance.

In his new book, The Turning Tide, Jon Gower combines social and cultural history, nature-writing, travelogue and politics to explore a sea that has carried both Vikings and saints, invasion forces and furtive gun-runners, writers, musicians and fishermen.

Hear why the sea has a turbulent history to match the violence of its storms and how the story of the people who have crossed these waters, and who live on their shores, continues to resonate today.

Jon Gower has over forty books to his name, in Welsh and English, including 2023’s The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea, and Y Diwedd, which completes his Welsh language crime trilogy, published in 2022. He is also the author of The Story of Wales which accompanied the landmark BBC series, An Island Called Smith which gained the John Morgan Travel Writing Award, and Y Storïwr which won the Wales Book of the Year award.  He is a former BBC Wales arts and media correspondent and was for many years the presenter of Radio Wales’ arts’ programme First Hand.