The Pocket Guides are very attractively presented quarto books, and Dr Hywel Wyn Owen, who is Research Reader at the University of Wales, Bangor, and Director of the University's Board of Celtic Studies Place-Name Survey, is very well-qualified to produce this volume in the series, although he acknowledges his immense debt to the work of the late Professor Melville Richards. The encomium of the President of the English Place Name Society, Margaret Gelling, printed on the book's cover, in fact says it all: 'A splendid combination of the scholarly with the accessible'. Dr Owen has provided a useful introduction indicating the pitfalls one is likely to encounter when endeavouring to elucidate names and also helpful comments to guide non-Welsh speakers. There is also a bibliography with a list of regional as well as national studies. As Dr Owen explains, the small size of the book means that not every place-name can be included or even all there is to be said about a particular name, and his selection has been based on Phillips Great Road Atlas and has incorporated all place-names which appear there in larger type. Both English and Welsh names are given. Despite his disclaimer, Dr Owen has succeeded in including interesting facts and history associated with many of the places listed, as the following example demonstrates:'HOPE, YR HOB', Flints: 'enclosed land in a marsh'; Old English hop 'enclosed land especially in waste land or marsh'. Hope is on fairly dry land beside the river Alun.

The place-name in English ( Hope , 1086) reflects the Mercian settlement of the area but its naturalization in a Welsh form ( Hob , 1580); Yr Hob , c.1700) is evidence of the restricted English influence in the Middle Ages and early modern period. Queen's Hope (1398) and Hope Regine (1430) were also used at one time, commemorating the fact that Edward I, after accepting the surrender of nearby Caergwrle Castle, presented the castle and much of the parish to his wife Eleanor.' The book is, of course, arranged in alphabetical order but an index has been provided to other place-names mentioned in the text.Susan PassmoreIt is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com , with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.

gwales.com , trwy ganiat'd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.