Welsh literary legend Sam Adams has written a scholarly, wide-ranging column in the esteemed PN Review for more than quarter of a century, covering every imaginable topic in relation to Welsh writing, history and culture. Now, thanks to Parthian, this huge and hugely important body of work has been collected together for the first time in a compendium that will undoubtedly become an essential touchstone for students looking to understand the past and present of Wales, particularly its literature and literary culture.

In these columns, as impressive for their depth as they are for their intellectual breadth, Adams analyses the work of acclaimed Welsh writers such as Gillian Clarke, R. S. Thomas, and Rhian Edwards with scholarly panache, thorough in his criticism and effusive in his praise. The book provides a fascinating overview of Adams’ own intellectual journey. He makes for excellent company, eloquent and clear-eyed, his passion practically dripping off the page; there is the sense that one of the key focuses of his career has been to encourage the culture to be as good as he knows it can be.

Letters From Wales is a raised flag for Welsh literature as a culture to be preserved and celebrated.