2008-05-19 A monumental achievement!

Considering it a sad omission that no one has yet seen fit to comment, I thought I would present my own 'humble offering'.

The many individuals involved in bringing this work into being are to be hugely congratulated. The design and execution are superb and the whole is richly illustrated. Given that reference works aren't generally amenable to 'reinvention', the unobtrusive and cleanly set page design can be ajudged successful by the very fact that it doesn't draw attention to itself and instead lets the content 'speak for itself'.

In this era of the rapid availability of online information at "one's fingertips" it is useful to be reminded that there is still a place for intelligently conceived and rigorous print reference works on important themes.

This one weaves together those elements that may be said to constitute the "idea" of Wales, from history, linguistics, geography, geology and the other sciences, to popular culture, biography and other specialised themes. It brings together in a readable form information that previously would have been available only to the dedicated reader in a variety of more specialised publications - for that reason alone it is invaluable.

It also serves to firmly root the history & culture of this region within the broader frames of britain, europe and beyond. It also helps to establish once and for all that there is more to Wales than just "the valleys" (hugely important though their contribution has been).

As someone who is fascinated by the Welsh language, the lucid treatment of linguistic development, and referencing of the important texts has helped to consolidate my own interests in this area.

In addition, biographical treatments of individuals such as Edward Lhuyd help to counter the image of Wales as an intellectual 'backwater' - without the sense of retrospective revisionism being employed!

I have also picked-up countless pieces of new information just skimming through the pages.

BE AWARE that biographical entries are restricted to those deceased. Without this knowledge, some confusion may arise for readers. The decision is a bold, but understandable one, as an individual's story is alas only complete after their demise...Thus, a number of important current figures do not figure as named entries - although their important may be hinted at within other entries. There is no doubt scope for appendices to the main work as, sadly, more individuals become 'eligible' for inclusion.

No doubt in order to make a manageable volume the text is printed on paper of relative thinness, although of fine quality. This does mean that there is an occasional manifestation of image shadowing - but it must be underlined that this does not detract from one's enjoyment of the work and is an inevitable compromise.

I, for one, shall be constantly referring to it and wholeheartedly recommend it.