Welsh Journals

turns of phrase-and the account is constantly enlivened with brief, telling sketches of individuals. Like most travellers in Amsterdam, he admired the Exchange, but he also visited the 'Spiel-houses' with a pack of'blackguard' sea-captains. Further north there were similar amusements, offset by samplings of 'the Scotch Religion' and a 'perlustration of the Edinborough houses of polite reception'. Most of all, he was fascinated by industry. He described everything from Brunswick sulphur works to the newly-constructed Bridgwater canal, and sometimes compared English and continental developments. He even punctuated his text with little diagrams of what he had observed. Considering the interest of the diaries, it is unfortunate that they have not been better edited. The transcription is slapdash and sometimes inaccurate, and although Miss Ross has unearthed some new information on Morris, her introduction remains a rag-bag of the relevant and the irrelevant, with no real attempt to place the man in a social or political context. Many proper names in the text go unidentified, the index is inadequate and, oddly, there is no map. Though there are some worth- while illustrations, there is none of the manuscript itself. It is a valuable source, which deserves to have been published-but to a higher standard than this. HUGH DUNTHORNE Swansea. INDUSTRIAL BRITAIN: SOUTH WALES. By Graham Humphrys. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972. Pp. 253, plates. £ 4.75. This book is the fourth in a series on 'Industrial Britain' which is edited by D. M. Smith, who contributed the first volume on 'The North West'. To a large extent the book is written to the established format of the series. It opens with a section which reviews the area in general and the development of the industrial structure. This is followed by a consideration of the individual industries, coal, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, manufacturing and services. The region is then divided into sub-regions for descriptive purposes and the conclusion deals with planning proposals. The basic historical development of industrial south Wales is dealt with in the first chapter-The Inheritance-written by J. W. England. This takes only 26 pages and also includes a review of physical resources. It can do no more, therefore, than present standard ideas. This is followed by two chapters in which Dr. Humphrys outlines the changes which have taken place since 1945. These are called 'The Regional Economy Restructured' and 'Jobs, Homes and Transport'. In particular, the major changes consequent upon colliery closures and the concentration of steel and tinplate manufacture are discussed and the repercussions on the valleys outlined. The modern history of economic change is presented clearly and effectively. Perhaps the section of the book most open to criticism and which will arouse great interest is that called 'Pleas for a Plan'. Unlike other authors in the series, Dr. Humphrys has not much to go on since no overall