Ann Howard, the popular author and historian, who was invited by the Ryde Eisteddfod Committee to write the book, is gratified by its initial enthusiastic reception.  She says: it was a tremendous challenge to represent 30 years and thousands of entrants in different disciplines in one book, without archives. I became a detective, tracking people down all over the world. What emerged from over 250 interviews, was that the Eisteddfod was a special part of each career path. Ryde residents can be justly proud that such as significant number of world class figures in the arts recognise the importance of experiencing the stage and audience, their peers and the adjudicator’s comments from the age of 5.  

• Over 1,000 hours of author input
• 9 rewrites
• 122 photos
• 217 pages