Asked in a 1946 questionnaire for Wales magazine if he considered himself a Welsh writer, Rhys Davies replied, "No. I am only a writer." This simple but telling statement best sums up a man whose sole desire from his youth had been to be a professional writer. And write he did: by 1975 he had published more than forty books, nearly half of them novels; most of the other volumes were collections of short stories although he also published an autobiography, two "appreciations" of Wales, and two plays. Although he wanted to be considered "only a writer," it is for his Welsh fiction that he is most noted. Unlike some other modern Welsh writers, such as Caradoc Evans, Davies retained a love for Wales and the Welsh people. He may not have lived in Wales after he moved to London as a young man, but he frequently visited the land...