The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning

Bradley Manning is the 24-year-old US soldier accused of the release of thousands of US embassy emails to Wikileaks. On Friday 16th December 2011, his pre-trial hearing opened in Fort Meade in Maryland. Manning faces a maximum sentence of life in custody with no chance of parole. But just a few years ago, he was a teenager in west Wales. How does his story impact on the people he left behind, and who is responsible for his 'radicalisation'? The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning aims to place him in the pantheon of great Welsh radicals, from the Chartists to Aneurin Beva. This young soldier, who names the president of the United States as a defence witness, knows bus timetables around Haverfordwest. This young man who played a part in the Arab spring, knows the trials of schoolboy rugby. This young soldier who apparently chose his moral code over his military one, speaks rudimentary Welsh. Tim Price's trademark humanity, warmth and wit depicts a complex portrait of Manning as a modern-day, troubled and flawed martyr, but a martyr nonetheless.