Author Description

When a talented travel writer/political commentator turns to fiction, it is no surprise that the result is a highly entertaining satirical fantasy. In Our First Leader, we move back half a century, the United States have not yet joined the war, the Germans are still fighting the Soviet Union and Britain has become a German Protectorate. To impress the neutral countries, particularly the US, the Nazis decide to establish a free homeland for the Welsh to be called Cymru Newydd. The chosen leader is the verbose, enthusiastic and apparently naive Llywellyn Parry-Morris, an Oxford lecturer in Celtic studies. The Nazis and Hitler in particular, of course, have a hidden agenda and the way in which Parry-Morris thwarts their plans, brings America in to the war and furthers his dream of a permanent and genuine Welsh state is the central theme of this affectionately-told tongue-in-cheek story. The line illustrations also by the author give a cartoonist's edge to the narrative.