A study of seven significant figures in the religion and culture of twentieth-century Wales: D. Cynddelw Williams, Timothy Rees, Lewis Valentine, J. E. Daniel, Ivor Oswy Davies, Pennar Davies and R. Tudur Jones. Each of the individual 'portraits' draws out a number of themes-for example the effects of the First World War, the polarization between church and chapel, and the clash between secularism and religious orthodoxy-and examines each of the characters in their context (Wales and beyond).