John Tripp had a chameleon genius which enlivened the literary life of Wales for nearly three decades. Poet, short story writer and journalist, he was an outspoken and often controversial writer. Charming, abrasive, lyrical and satirical, 'The Meaning of Apricot Sponge' is essential reading for anyone concerned with Wales and the roots of its contemporary identity. His wit and sharply observed social and political comments enriched debate, publications and broadcasts at that most crucial time in the struggle for self- rule in Wales. 'The Meaning of Apricot Sponge' is the first publication of Tripp's work to represent his poetry, fiction, journalism and creative non-fiction. This is a generous, fully annotated selection across these genres with an illuminating Introduction by Tony Curtis and a Foreword by Peter Finch, two of Tripp's friends and collaborators. Both writers also contribute poems dedicated to John Tripp.

Thurrock's Deeper Past: A Confluence of Time' looks at the evidence for human activity in Thurrock and this part of the Thames estuary since the last Ice Age, and how the river crossing point here has been of great importance to the development of human settlement and trade in the British Isles. It is a book about the archaeology of Thurrock. It takes in all periods and most of the sites which have been excavated in the borough of Thurrock over the last sixty or more years. The account opens at a time when Britain is still joined to the continent and the inhabitants are using flint tools and weapons. The author follows through the impact of the succeeding ages on the locality: the melting of the ice, the Neolithic period bringing the farming of crops and stockholding, the first appearance of worked metal in the Bronze Age, through the widespread use of iron in the Iron Age; and then the dramatic impact of Rome and its gradual dissolution to the English kingdoms whose traces are still recognisable today. All is set in the context of the author's lasting interest in the subject, first nurtured at his Tilbury school.