Welsh Journals

within the framework of the traditional state, and its fundamentally illiberal, collectivist and divisive implications were little recognized. The impact of war gave momentum to the forces of change, and the second half of the book analyzes the new and contrasting scene. Dr. Roberts writes well and judiciously on these general trends. His surveys of domestic history, too, are concise and stimulating, but he seems less happy in his account of international relations where, though the good sense and crisp writing which characterize his work remain in evidence, the treatment is somewhat lacking in depth. In general, his book is a balanced and well-proportioned survey and has much to offer students. It is neces- sary, however, to draw attention to a number of factual errors. The treaty of San Stefano was signed four months not two years before the treaty of Berlin, 1878 (p. 92); the Anglo-German treaty of 1890 was signed on 1 not 17 July, and Joseph Chamberlain, who was not at this time in the government, had nothing to do with it (p. 108); the successor of Combes as Prime Minister of France in January 1905 was Rouvier, not Briand (p. 154); Pio Nono died in 1878, not in 1880 (p. 168); Stolypin was assassinated in September 1911, not 1912 (p. 190); the Soviet-Czech alliance was made in 1935, not 1936 (p. 510); the first Labour government took office in January 1924, not 'at the end of 1923' (p. 330). E. W. EDWARDS Cardiff SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF BRITISH ELECTIONS, 1885-1910. By Henry Pelling. Macmillan, 1967. Pp. xxxii, 455. 70s. There is a case for saying that in the period between the third Reform Act and the First World War British electoral politics came of age and had not yet entered into its present-day decadence, when the form of political campaigning commands more attention than its content. Corruption, though not extinct, had been dealt a death-blow by the 1883 Act. Canvass- ing and the selection of candidates could no longer be the cosy game it once was. Contests were the rule, which they had not been before 1867. National issues had begun to emerge-Irish home rule, imperialism, tariff reform, church-state relations-but they affected different regions to different degrees, and could be submerged by local grievances or personalities. The local press was more vigorous than either before or since. It is this conjuncture between national and local politics which gives Dr. Pelling's study its exceptional interest. Spanning a quarter of a century, it is a contribution to political history: it chronicles the decline of Non-