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political, and commercial issues (especially as affected by war) combined to pull some men now in one direction, now in another. Again, the demographic factor was at work, bringing in new families and new influences. Glamorgan, evidently, played a not unimportant role in national politics, far beyond what might be suggested by its mere two seats in the Commons, for between 1700 and 1750 as many as 28 Members had their main interests in Glamorgan, although only 13 of them ever represented the county. With political importance, swelling trade and surging industrialism came significant changes in culture. Whatever the state of the rest of Wales, Glamorgan was no rustic backwater. There is early evidence of intellectual activity, including antiquarian study and patronage of the arts, and exemplified by the truly remarkable size of some family libraries. But again changes occurred in the later decades of the eighteenth century as the influence of new families and of the metropolis grew apace, though it might be argued that the older gentry contributed to such changes by a preference for educating their sons outside the county. Lastly, Dr. Jenkins uses his Glamorgan evidence to test the various theories which have been advanced to explain the rise of industrialism. Displaying a healthy scepticism, he argues the need for more comparative studies to show how far Glamorgan may be unusual-in its geography and industrial resources-or typical, in, for example, its demographic crisis and its consequences. When such studies appear, it ought to be said, they might well take as their model the thorough research, lucid exposition, and clear reasoning of this truly excellent monograph. G. E. MINGAY University of Kent PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY: A YEARBOOK, Volume 1. Alan Sutton, 1982. Pp. 281. £ 12.50 casebound, £ 7.50 paperback. In these hard times the launch of a new learned journal is almost a miracle. Editor Eveline Cruickshanks and her team deserve many congratulations on their enterprise: and it was a good idea to publish simultaneously in paperback and hardback, an unusual practice for a periodical but one that both matches the purse of individuals and meets the needs of libraries. The professed purpose is to cover 'the history of Parliamentary institutions in the British Isles'. If this first number is any guide, the yearbook will combine institutional studies of Parliament with surveys of British political history in a Parliamentary framework: and the period most favoured will be the early modern one, when Parliament had emerged as a power in the land but party discipline and other factors had not yet diminished the central role of the Houses of Parliament in the British political system. Much is packed into the volume: seven articles, three notes, one lengthy historiographical perspective, three review articles and individual reviews of some