Read our interview with author Madoc Roberts here

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Buy 'Snow'  HERE ( Kindle edition available )

Snow is that rare thing an important work of historical research that reads like a fast-paced spy thriller. Although it must be added that the events recounted therein would be deemed highly improbable if they were fiction. The central character Arthur Graham Owens is a study in vanity, folly , recklessness, courage and determination combined. This deeply flawed character commands respect, despite his many weaknesses, because his antics contributed more to the Allied war effort than he, or his MI5 'handlers' could ever have imagined.

Snow offered his services to German Intelligence in Hamburg in 1935. The strength of his allegiance to the Nazi cause must be doubted however when we take into account MI5 observations which record him shopping for photographic equipment and magazines packed with pictures of outdated military vehicles . Indeed it is doubtful that he ever supplied his Abwehr paymasters with anything of real significance.

During a bizarre episode in Wandsworth Prison in 1939 Snow attempted to contact the Abwehr in Hamburg with a radio set which had been supplied for the purpose. He had been detained by British Intelligence on the suspicion that he was a double agent and was attempting to prove his potential value to MI5. The transmitter promptly blew a fuse and after repairs had been carried out several more attempts were made before the response signal, 'OEA' was received. A few miles away at an RSS ( Radio Security Service ) listening station an amazing discovery was made. Instead of going directly to Hamburg the messages from Owens were intercepted by a spy trawler off the coast of Norway. From here they were re-transmitted after being encoded using the German Enigma machine. Consequently British Intelligence were able to listen in to both transmissions , one coded and one in plain text. Since Owens had been instructed to broadcast at 4 in the morning all that the RSS had to do to break the German cipher for the day was compare and analyse the two messages. Thus, unwittingly, the Welsh 'master spy' gave British Intelligence access to secret German military communications throughout Europe.

After serving as a double agent for two years Snow was debriefed following a top level meeting with the head of the Abwehr in Portugal. The account of these interrogations is as detailed as it is fascinating. According to Snow he was confronted with the fact that he had been operating as a double agent almost immediately upon arrival in Lisbon. And yet, the Germans chose to do nothing about this and sent him back to Britain with 10,000 GBP and a variety of concealed explosive devices to carry on his good work! One can hardly blame MI5 for being somewhat sceptical.The detailed exchanges between Snow and his interrogators are a study in mind-boggling duplicity. The records of these discussions have been meticulously reaearched by the books authors with reference to original source materials from the archives of the British Security Service ( MI5 ). Fortunately they are presented in a thoroughly engaging manner and the reader will have fun trying to work out what really happened in Lisbon. Whatever your conclusion you are sure to sympathise with the MI5 operative who concluded that "I am more than ever convinced that Snow's is a case not for the Security Service but for a brain specialist" and also with interrogator Tommy Robertson:-

"....Robertson was sure that he was lying. But Owen's story was so inconsistent that he could not determine the nature of the lie or its purpose."

Following the Lisbon incident Snow spent some time at HMP Dartmoor. MI5 did not feel they could trust him anymore and they wanted him out of the way. Even while in prison Owens was able to procure information from fellow prisoners which was of value to the war effort. Conversations with a fellow prisoner ( a Danish internee ) led to revelations concerning the German V2 program which were promptly passed on to MI5.

Following the war and his release from prison Owens retired to live quietly in Wexford, Ireland where he died in 1957. He had a reputation as a Welsh Nationalist and became a regular attendee at Sinn Fein meetings where he would clap speechesvery loudly , often delivered in Gaelic, even though he did not speak the language. He was also a regular fixture at the local pub from where he often had to be carried home.

As a work of historical research 'Snow' is a gold mine of information on British clandestine operations in WWII. As a biography it reveals a complex and conflicted character whose true motives may have been as much a mystery to himself as they are to the reader. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone with a love of history or a fascination with the complex, inscrutable and frequently perverse characters who make it.

The short promotional video below perfectly demonstrates why this book cries out for a movie adaptation. Any budding script writers out there?

Review by Ceri Shaw Google+ Email

This book surprised and delighted me in equal measure. At one point author Jon Gower observes that:-"The world of coincidence is uncharted mystery". This might be understood as the books theme as it charts coincidental occurrences in Buenos Aries, Oakland Bay and Cardiff bound together, albeit tentatively, by the onward progress of a paper boat. The boat, made of newspaper, is home to the mortal remains of Flavia, a former resident of Buenos Aries whose 'undead' body travels the globe inspiring scientific speculation and religious devotion in its wake.

In a recent interview with AmeriCymru Jon described the book in these terms:- "A friend said that it "mythologizes an Argentine woman's journey around the world" and that pretty much sums it up. The woman, Flavia, is in a sort of purgatory, neither alive nor dead. Her story becomes a myth which becomes a religion, a case of global Chinese whispers." Her condition is in some way a consequence of and a testament to the undying love between her and her former, still earthbound, husband Horacio with whom she used to dance the tango in the back streets of Buenos Aries.

In the course of her journey she touches a great many lives and creates a profound impression but it should not be thought that the book is without humour. In fact the final section, set in Cardiff is suffused with surreal humour and bizarre incident. If you'll forgive a rather long quote, here is Jon's description of the passing of 'Bloomers' , a famous incident in the history of Caroline Street:-

"Half way along Caroline there used to be a famous club called Bloomers but someone attacked it with a petrol bomb, burned it to the ground. In the Echo the day after the conflagration the stalwart cartoonist, Gren, had captured the moment in an exquisite image. Caroline Street with a gaping hole like a tooth extraction: above it, dwarfing all the buildings, is an atomic mushroom cloud and there are two men flying through the air above the caption 'Now that's what I call a curry.' There is much more in this vein as the seemier side of Cardiff's nightlife and it's culture of heavy drinking and toxic takeaways are mercilessly ( and humorously ) exposed.

If you were planning to give someone a book for Christmas and were looking for something 'different', then look no further. 'Uncharted' has everything:- pathos, humour and a pace that makes it 'unputdownable'. The book is , unfortunately, ineligible for a Wales Book of the Year Award in 2011 because Jon is on the judges panel. It surely would have been a strong contender for first place.

Whereas the woodcarver is a person of some renown and social bearing in many cultures from the South Pacific, Africa and the Northwest Coast of North America, they were generally held in very low esteem in Europe. To this day, the European and North American perception has changed very little.

Woodcarving is often viewed as little more than an engaging pastime. Its the thing your granddad does when he's got a bit of free time to wile away. Even when confronted by the work of a real master of the craft, most take one look at the price-tag and shake their heads. If the work were done in stone or metal there would be no question of its value...but wood seems to elicit an entirely different response. What sets me off on this little diatribe is a recent purchase I made while on holiday in Mexico.

I had been on the lookout for a Mayan mask but after looking through the usual mass produced souvenir tat available at all the tourist sites, had given up on the the idea of actually buying one. However, a chance stop in a small town lead me to a shop selling masks of much higher quality than the ones I had so far seen. Eventually, I settled on two masks that I wanted and got down to the business of negotiating a price. I expected to pay a decent amount for work that was as well done as was apparent on the masks I was buying. The dealer's opening price was 900 pesos (aprox 75 dollars) which he voluntarily dropped to 700 if I was prepared to buy the two masks at once. Probably he expected me to counter with an offer of 4 0r 5 hundred which may or may not have been the correct thing to do...after all, he's already probably paid the carver something like 200 for both masks...but as a carver I felt real reluctance to belittle the work of the carvers (even if they are never likely to see the financial reward), after all, we're talking less than 30 bucks a mask!!! I made a half-hearted counter of 650 and then couldn't be bothered to counter again when he made his pitch for staying at 700. No doubt he viewed me as negotiating 'sucker of the year' but I just couldn't get past how little I was paying for work that took great effort, skill and time.

Although I am thrilled with my masks and have spent a good deal of time enjoying the art and the craft which has gone into them...I am also saddened knowing that somewhere, a carver toiled many hours creating a lovely piece of work which probably barely paid for a day or two's worth of tortillas and some chicken. Even more sadly, this reflects the situation of generations of European carvers who toiled in the great cathedrals and country estates we all 'ooo and aaah' over now. It continues to reflect the current situation where very few people can be bothered to get into professional woodcarving because the ability to earn a living is so restricted and it probably will reflect what to expect in the future when hand woodcarving will likely die out, to be replaced buy CNC cutters which will churn out pieces a dime a dozen.

Whenever I get the opportunity to carve a lovespoon for a client, it's never far from my mind that I might represent the last generation who does it this way. My spoons are unashamedly expensive compared to the commercial variety BUT they are severely underpriced in terms of the quality, knowledge and art which goes into them. It's a tightrope which is very hard not to fall off!

www.blodwen.com
Stop press : Blodwen is making an appearance at on-line giant - Not On The High Street this week. She's helping launch its new wedding brochure, with a range of beautiful textiles, earthenware and herorganic Wild Rose skincare collection - alsorecently describedbyThe Saturday Telegraph Magazine's Beauty Editor, Kate Shapland, as "quite the most exquisite rose bath oil I have tried."

"A Royal wedding,hidden treasures documenting the GWR in St Clears, the man behind Twin Town and one of the best known editors in Carmarthenshire. These are just a few of the items on offer in this issue" Now read on......