Welsh Journals

war, a total war worthy of the wide screen of the contemporary cinema: in modern terms, the labour movement had thrown in its lot with the nationalists' (p. 231). Yet they will be grateful for some pungent comments such as 'the Zionism of the old Arthurian tradition' (p. 232) or the concept of Lloyd George as the Masaryk manque of Welsh nationalism (p. 241). Even more to the point, whatever their disagreements with some of the interpretation, they will surely warm to the plea for an intelligent appreciation of the value of social history (pp. 234-35) and to the justifiable criticism of the ways in which Welsh history is all too often taught and studied: 'Welsh history is not so much integrated with [English history] as relegated to another, less important plane and even taught from the English point of view' (p. 213). GLANMOR WILLIAMS Swansea AN HISTORICAL ATLAS OF WALES FROM EARLY TO MODERN TIMES. By William Rees. Faber and Faber, a reprint of the New Edition, 1967. 25s. It is now eighteen years since this atlas first appeared. It quickly established itself as an indispensable work for all students of Welsh history and has maintained its position of pre-eminence against all comers ever since. Consequently, every new edition or reprint is eagerly welcomed by students of history and historical geography everywhere. Nevertheless, the actual changes made in the new edition of 1959 and in this present reprint are not in any way considerable. No new maps have been added although the presentation of some of the data has been changed for the better. The commentary still provides a very useful summary of the main trends of Welsh history. The atlas is really a com- panion volume for the student of Welsh history, a volume to be alongside him all the time, as a student of languages uses a dictionary. Professor Rees is concerned with the mapping of historical or archaeological data and, having mapped the data, he is not concerned, as the historical geographer would be, to interpret the distribution patterns shown. Even in this reprint there is a curious imbalance in the selection of material though, of course, thoroughly understandable. The periods from the Norman Conquest to the Act of Union and from the Act of Union to the present are approximately equal in duration, yet the former is covered by twenty-four maps and the latter period by only fourteen. There are many who would argue that the numbers should be reversed. It is curious, for example, that not a single map deals with the agricultural geography of Wales in the past. Surely agriculture was, and is, as important an industry in Wales as coal-mining and the digging of metals which receive attention from Professor Rees. Why not a map of the 1801 agricultural returns, in spite of the fact that the data for some