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particular house construction which is associated with it and although there are some illustrations of characteristic types of housing in general, this is one aspect which does not receive any detailed treatment. It would have certainly added to the completeness of this study if it had been possible to include a consideration of house type as well as of the major plan elements which this study is concerned with. In his concluding remarks, the author states that 'The object of this paper has been to throw light upon the form, structure and disposition of colliery settlement in south Wales. It is recognized that the work has been of an exploratory nature Given this objective, then, this work has met with considerable success. It is likely that as the material is worked over the major plan elements proposed by the author will be modified and the model which he has developed will be subject to revision. Nevertheless, he has taken an important first step in the detailed analysis of these settlements in the south Wales coalfield. At last there is available a study of the 'morphogenetic' elements that make up the settlement patterns in the valleys. This is a welcome move away from the acceptance of a stereotype which has not until this study received the detailed examination which it has long demanded. HAROLD CARTER Aberystwyth THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF THE BRITISH MONARCHY, 1868-1952. By Frank Hardie. Batsford, 1970. Pp. 224. £2·10. 'The political role of the reigning Sovereign is, of all the processes of the British Constitution, that least known to contemporaries', says Mr. Hardie at the beginning of his The Political Influence of the British Monarchy, 1868-1952. Mr. Hardie has already written a monograph on The Political Influence of Queen Victoria, 1861-1901 (O.U.P., 1935) and he still holds that 'the eminence grise of the Victorian Constitution was Victoria herself. Much of his new book is in fact about Victoria. Mr. Hardie himself points out that our information is still significantly fuller for the Victorian period than for the twentieth century. Quite apart from the 'thirty years rule', the Victorians were much more given to expounding their political views in writing, especially in letters, than their descendants have been. The title of the book is, indeed, rather misleading. Only sixteen pages are devoted to Edward VIII and George VI. Mr. Hardie limits himself strictly to analyzing the political influence of the Crown, distinguishing this from political power, such as the use of the prerogative to abolish the sale of army commissions in 1871, which he regards as well covered in standard books in constitutional history. He purposely excludes many related subjects such as the influence of the Crown in Church affairs, the role of the Crown as the 'Fountain of Honour' and relations between the Sovereign and Dominion governments.