James Davies was senior lecturer at the University of Wales, Swansea. Over the last fifteen years he published extensively on Dylan Thomas, most recently A reference Companion to Dylan Thomas with Greenwood. He was an authority on literary Swansea, and his other publications include Dylan Thomas's Places.

'This is the most pleasing of books: a small slender volume that generously cover its subject ... This Guide, impeccably researched and comprehensively indexed, meets every need of the literary tourist and offers much to Thomas specialists besides ... richly informative in terms of biography, topography and literary history, James Davies's enjoyable Guide should give long, and valuable service.' (Planet) '...a unique portrait of the artist and the places that shaped him.' Western Telegraph '...required reading for those visitors who flock to Swansea on the Dylan Thomas trail.' The Western Mail