CHANGES in the political structure of the United Kingdom, with Scotland regaining a parliament and Wales getting an assembly, have prompted the author to write a thought-provoking history of the British Isles, concentrating on how the smaller nations have conducted their relationships with their big neighbour England, and vice versa.

Much will be familiar to those interested in the subject. The difference is that Welsh, in an easily digestible but too simplified (even in 450 pages of text and detailed references) book, tells it as he sees it, with his own slant on events.

Updated: 12:30 Wednesday, September 17, 2003