Welsh Journals

countries of England and Wales, and which fills almost half of the entire book. On the other hand, Dr. Kerridge must be praised for very good descriptions of farming practices such as the cultivation of woad. In conclusion, it must be said that this is a book which no serious historian can afford to ignore, but one where much is unproven and bound to be controversial. T. H. LLOYD Swansea THE MINERS AND BRITISH POLITICS, 1906-1914. By Roy Gregory. Oxford Historical Monographs, O.U.P., 1968. Pp. 207. 42s. Books are now appearing at regular intervals which shed light on the nature of politics and, in particular, of elections in the late Victorian and Edwardian years. Yet more light is shed on the nature of Labour politics in the years before 1914 by Dr. Gregory's book. His story concerns the way in which the miners switched their allegiance from the Liberal Party to the Labour Party. The tempo of this switch varied from coalfield to coalfield, but in each area the themes were the same. Within the miners' federations, the so-called 'Lib-Labs' resisted the demands for independent labour representation forwarded by the supporters of the I.L.P. In theory the I.L.P.'ers had won by 1908, for in that year the miners balloted decisively in favour of the M.F.G.B. affiliating with the Labour Party. In practice, as Dr. Gregory shows, it was to take another six years before the implications of independent labour representation were fully accepted by all miners' leaders. As a study of the miners in British elections from 1906 to 1914, this book has many outstanding virtues. It is a short book written with beautiful economy and with a minimum of digression. It combines masterly general summaries with a detailed narrative of local develop- ments. Statistics are handled in an intelligent and informative way, and generally the impression given, as in any good monograph, is one of singleness of purpose and clarity of argument. The discussion of events in Wales is interesting and accurate, and Dr. Gregory's book usefully complements Mr. Page Arnot's recent summary of the industrial policy of the south Wales miners during this same period (reviewed ante, IV, 85). It must be said, however, that there are times when Dr. Gregory's singleness of purpose and his desire to give the book a logic of its own lead to shortcomings. In particular, his one theme-the growing desire amongst miners for independent labour representation-looms too large and in effect rather distorts the picture. Throughout the book the tendency is for independent labour representation to be seen as an end in itself rather than as a means to an end. To give his narrative rather more flesh and blood Dr. Gregory needs to look in more detail at the policies of the various parties, and more especially at the ethos created