A polished study of the rich literary heritage of Wales from the 6th to the 20th century, tracing the inter-relationship of prose and poetry with history, religion and national identity, noting especially the durability of the Welsh language through the ages. 24 black-and-white photographs and illustrations.

Astudiaeth gaboledig o dreftadaeth gyfoethog llenyddiaeth Cymru o'r 6ed hyd yr 20fed ganrif, yn olrhain cyd-berthynas rhyddiaith a barddoniaeth gyda hanes, crefydd a hunaniaeth cenedlaethol, gan nodi'n arbennig wytnwch yr iaith Gymraeg drwy'r canrifoedd. 24 ffotograff a llun du-a-gwyn.

This is a new edition, in an attractive paperback format, of a book that first appeared in 1983. It is a key work for an understanding of Emyr Humphreys, the greatest living Welsh prose-writer in English and one of the greatest ever.

'The history of Wales,’ he writes in his introduction, ‘is a history of unending resistance and unexpected revival. It is these qualities that give the story dignity and significance. They create the invisible and yet indissoluble bonds of attachment that bind a Welshman to his inheritance and test his character from the cradle to the grave.’ Almost all Emyr Humphreys’s novels have explored that assertion in the light of the known facts, examining even its aberrations and perversions.

For him the quintessential figure is that of the poet Taliesin, the shape-shifter, the symbol of continuous rebirth, the man or spirit that cannot be snared or tamed, who insists resolutely on being nothing or no-one but himself. Other images come to mind for the resilience, quicksilver qualities and sheer bloody-mindedness of the Welsh, but Taliesin, dating as he does from the sixth century, serves Emyr Humphreys well as a theme through which he can explore the identity of Wales and its people over a millennium and a half.

This he does, convincingly and often brilliantly, by showing what happened to Wales under pressure from English cultural imperialism and the Anglocentric arrangement of British society from the time of the Tudors on. The theme is traced down the centuries and into our own time through such figures as Iolo Morganwg, Lloyd George and Saunders Lewis, all of whom redefined the image of Wales in their own ways.

Wales has been, in turn, a bastion of British Christianity, the basis for Tudor expansionism, a magnet for English writers of the Romantic period, a driving force for the radicalism of early Liberalism and Socialism, and in the 20th century the inspiration for Welsh Nationalism. Throughout, Emyr Humphreys demonstrates the vital relationship between national identity and literature, between poetry and politics, rejecting the English view that they are mutually exclusive.

A new afterword and personal postscript bring the book up to date, post-Chernobyl, post-Devolution, pointing out that we ignore history at our peril, and ending with a panegyric to Saunders Lewis, that ‘necessary figure’ of whom Emyr Humphreys has always been an ardent acolyte.

‘The writing of history is a process that is condemned never to catch up with itself,’ he writes. That being so, his book is one of the best we have on how the Welsh have seen themselves and might, even so late in the day as this, redefine themselves yet once more.

Meic Stephens

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.