In an insightful and quite lively account, the author proceeds to examine and explain the progress of nonconformity before the mid-nineteenth century in the old (and now restored) counties of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, a heartland of Old Dissent in Wales and the nurturing ground of indigenous Methodism.

... The author draws out some interesting quotations to contrast the original differences between rational Old Dissent and experiential Calvinistic Methodism. He reminds the reader of the localized and introverted character of the Society of Friends at Werndriw and is especially useful in attributing the beginnings of Wesleyanism in Cardiganshire to the associations with Cornish mine captains. His greatest enthusiasm is reserved for the Unitarians and his identification of the 'Black Spot' around the Teifi valley which was associated with the shift from Calvinism to Arminianism to Arianism. This is not exactly a new discussion, but the author handles his printed sources well and introduces new details from a most interesting find, the diary of John Thomas (1784-1861), pastor of Pontydefaid.