Welsh Journals

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CYMRU A'R BYD MODERN, ERS 1918. Gan Emyr Price. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1979. Pp. 217. £ 4.50. It has often been argued that various periods and topics in history are given insufficient attention in schools, partly on account of the lack of suitable reading material. Clearly, the University of Wales Press is to be congratulated for commissioning this work in Welsh on 'Wales and the Modem World', and the author is to be applauded for his coverage of the examination topics on the modern courses. The organization and structure of the book are familiar and conventional. The opening chapters cover the 1919 peace settlement and developments in Britain, Europe and America in the inter-war years. Chapter 6 on the second world war seems to mark the end of one stage. This is followed by three chapters on the cold war in Europe, Britain's declining empire, and post-war changes in Britain. Of the remaining six chapters, two are devoted to Wales: one on language, work and politics in the twentieth century; the other on notable Welshmen in the modem world. The author's intention, according to the preface, is to provide a text for pupils studying for the W.J.E.C. '0' level and C.S.E. examinations in history. He intends that the book should also assist those engaged on a sixth-form C.E.E. course, and act as a starting-point for sixth-form studies of the modern world. Unfortunately, in attempting too much, this well-illustrated text has often managed only a cursory analysis of some of the topics concerned. Even the exercises at the end of each chapter, for the C.S.E. and '0' level students, are fairly traditional and unexciting. Still, this book will be valuable for those history teachers who wish to give the syllabus a world perspective while preserving the continuity and structure provided by a core of British history. It will be additionally valuable for those who are pioneering world history courses in bilingual comprehensive schools in Wales. D. GARETH EVANS Lampeter. THE PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY OF GLAMORGAN, 1542-1976. By Raymond Grant. Christopher Davies, 1978. Pp. 315. £ 10.95. This is a source book on parliamentary history which was originally written for courses on 'the history of Glamorgan from the sources', but it also sets out, as a case study, to throw some light on the history of British democracy. For those of us who attended, as sixth-formers, Dr. Grant's pioneering courses at Dyffryn Education Centre, the contents of this book are familiar enough: a review of parliamentary changes from the act of Union to the mid-1970s, the reproduction of a wide range of well-chosen sources illustrating these changes (nearly half the book), a useful appendix of biographical notes on Members of Parliament, three maps and, perhaps most rewarding of all, some splendid illustrations (including Hogarth engravings, posters and photographs). Dr. Grant's work has no pretensions at being more than a sixth-form text-book. It could, however, quite easily be used in virtually all educational