IN SEARCH OF WALES By H.V. Morton Published by Methuen & Co, Ltd, original publication c1932 ISBN # 0413407403 {Click here to buy this book 2000 reprint...originals can be found on eBay regularly} I'll first note that the book I read was the 1932 publication. This series was reprinted between 2000-2001, probably in order for the copyright to remain intact. Anyone wishing to read this book

Now, having said that, I'll get into the meat of this review.

In Search of Wales is just one of the books that noted travel journalist of his time wrote. I've read In Search of Ireland and loved it. In preparation for a trip to Wales recently, I picked up this book to get a sense for a country I had yet to visit. I wasn't disappointed.

Morton's descriptions of Wales is almost like being there, which says a lot since this book was printed 72 years ago! The book is certainly no substitute for making a trip to Wales, but for those that can't, it's a wonderful experience.

On opening the cover, readers will see a map of Wales, which has been premarked on publication with Morton's route around the coast from Chirck on the marches in the north to Cardiff in the south. Each chapter begins with a very brief notation of what the author saw and experienced within the chapter. And the book is liberally sprinkled with photographs so that readers can see Wales as the author saw it in 1932.

What I find remarkable is that Wales still maintains much of the scenic beauty today as in Morton's day. It's actually quite possible to retrace his steps around the coast and still see those things that he found remarkable on his journey. While my stay in the country was centered around Hay-on-Wye, the bookstore capital of the world, I did see some of the areas that Morton did.

One of those areas was Llangollen and the aqueducts nearby. Of Llangollen, Morton writes, "To any with an eye for landscape its charm is in compression. Here is a little masterpiece in mountains; an exercise in the blending of hill against hill, woodland against moorland. The Vale of Llangollen looks as though Nature had made a scale model for a section of the milder Scottish Highlands, and, liking it very well, had also gained a few ideas for Switzerland and the German Rhine. It's a country that is neat and well-groomed. Every meadow, it seems, has its valet and every tree its lady's maid." I couldn't agree more! We drove through the vale at a time when the colors were just beginning to change and it was truly magnificent.

Another area we (Morton and ourselves) visited was Cardigan on the Pembrokeshire coast. I actually hadn't finished the book before we left for our trip, nor while on it, but when I finally did I was amazed to find that our first impressions of this town were quite similar. Upon entering Cardigan, Morton said the town was "one street of shops and a general air of having retired from business." When we arrived in town, 72 years later, it was much the same. Rain was falling in sheets, it was growing dark and the whole town had an air of complacency, and we had a difficult time finding accommodation. This could be an example of first impressions not always being the best ones. Our B&B was wonderful and the town, in the light of a sunny day, turned out to be a wonderful old market town with a great medieval history. We didn't get down to the sea front but the coastline here is part of a marine sanctuary.

Incredibly, Morton's books are not just he experiences of a travel writer. They're also history texts. In the first chapter I was drawn in by the story of Fulke Fitzwarren, a character I'd read about in one of Elizabeth Chadwick's stories a couple years ago, which was based on real events and people. I'd only heard cursory stories about this man, but Morton's description of him and the life that surrounded in him were fascinating and made for further research. As well, I learned about the romantic tryst of Katherine de Valois and Owen Tudor...the parents of Henry VI! Owen Tudor came from humble stock, his father having been a beer maker. Owen rose to the position of Clerk of the Wardrobe for the windowed Queen Katherine. They grew close and secretly married, Katherine bearing three sons, one of which would become Henry VI. The story is quite complicated but very romantic. And it's stories like these that you don't read in travel journals today.

I think what else strikes me as fascinating about Morton's books is his style of writing, what would be called his "voice" today. It's poetic, romantic and enticing.

I could go on and on about this book, but I think readers should pick up a copy of their own. It's like a holiday for the mind rather than the body.