An accessible introduction to the life and work of the inventive Welsh poet. Dylan Thomas--author of some of the century's greatest poetry, stories, and film scripts as well as one of the greatest radio features ever broadcast, Under Milk Wood--is often characterized as self-indulgent. This concise and up-to-date biography challenges this depiction with a fresh portrait of the artist as a consummate professional. John Goodby and Chris Wigginton locate the source of Thomas's daring and inventive style in the poet's Anglo-Welsh origins as well as his historical, cultural, and social contexts: the Great Depression and 1930s literary London, surrealism, World War II, and Cold War popular culture. The result is a revealing and fresh introduction to the life and work of this important Welsh writer.