The Alone to the Alone

The Alone to the Alone unites Gwyn Thomas's lyrical and philosophical flights of narrative in a satire whose savagery is only relieved by irrepressible laughter. It is Gwyn Thomas most shaped work: the underlying meaning of South Wales history is not so much documented as laid bare for universal dissection and dissemination. The novel, with its distinctive plural narration, is a choric commentary on human illusion and knowledge, on power and its attendant deprivation, on dreams and their destruction.

Gwyn Thomas was born in the Rhondda Valley, in 1913. Mass unemployment and widespread poverty in South Wales deepened his radicalism. After working for the Workers Educational Association he became a teacher, first in Cardigan and from 1942 in Barry. In 1962 he left teaching and concentrated on writing and broadcasting. His many published works of fiction include The Dark Philosophers (1946); The Alone to the Alone (1947); and All Things Betray Thee(1949). He also wrote several collections of short stories, six stage plays and the autobiography A Few Selected Exits (1968).