Big thumbs up for "Wales: Epic Views of A Small Country" by Jan Morris.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wales-Epic-Views-Small-Country/dp/0140274847/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297245081&sr=1-1
A defintive and sweeping guide to all things Cymric, and a must-read for anyone who wants an insightful guide to Wales. But it is more; this is one of those books that proffers an academic stance with a vast bibliography and intelligent insights into politics, language, history and landscape. This book is a sweeping guide but also a very positive, pro-Cambrian reference book and every single page is laced with fondness (almost homesickness, hiraeth, in fact). I stumbled upon this book in my local library and absolutely adored it! It is ever-so slightly dated now; it is, however, as up-to-date as political devolution at Cardiff Bay's Senedd, not to mention offers a modern a perspective of both Llywelyn and Glyndwr's revolts, of which there aren't actually many in print. And despite its talk of the most modern aspects of contemporary Wales, it still expounds the heritage of small places like Newport that many Welsh folk would probably overlook today.
Morris is an expert travel writer who is known to research her subject with awesome thoroughness.
One of Morris's most memorable assertions in this particular book is that there exist 2 kinds of typical Welsh face - a thin, pointed visage, or a rather cherubic one with round cheeks...
In a growing library of such publications, this book definitely stands out :)
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