Welsh Journals

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understood two things: first, that if the Welsh language was to survive it had to be extensively broadcast, and, second, that the very process of broadcasting offered a highly respectable, appropriate and comfortable career structure for those who felt somewhat constrained and unrewarded in the pulpit or classroom. Of course, those who were evangelically committed to broadcasting in Welsh were confronted by serious obstacles, such as the indifference of the vast majority of Welsh people, an indifference which occasionally turned to opposition. Far more signi- ficantly, there was the suspicion, incomprehension, hostility and even malevolence of the London establishment to programmes from Wales in any language. Welsh broadcasters had a fight on their hands but fight they did, and, albeit in instalments, they were to succeed. This is an important story, the details of which needed to be revealed. There was an obvious danger that the historian commissioned to tell the tale would be seduced by its heroic elements into believing that the Welsh-language fight was itself synonymous with the history of broadcasting in Wales. Regrettably, John Davies has fallen into that trap. In part, the sources are to blame and those historians who have written institutional or in-house histories will have some sympathy for John Davies; a rich archive built up by bureaucrats is a mixed blessing. In this case, there is little doubt that the author has been taken over by his sources. Methodologically, this must have been a matter of convenience. Many strands of political, social and technological detail had to be identified but the author always had the narrative background suggested by the sources to fall back on. John Davies is a past-master of narrative history and much of the time he tells this story robustly. There is genuine suspense; the excitement of the pioneers is fully conveyed, as is their frustration as yet again Reith or one of his associates dismisses Welsh claims as a nuisance. We are encouraged to greet the establishing of S4C as the moment of triumph but by this stage many readers might have tired of the dependence on official reports, memos and statistics. Certainly this reviewer began to lose both interest in, and comprehension of, the number of hours of Welsh and English broadcast from Cardiff. The author's approach is readily explained by his clear ideological and personal empathy with those administrators such as Alun Oldfield-Davies (the hero of the book) who fought the good fight. As it stands, this volume serves only as an introduction to its designated subject; a total stranger relying solely on this account would be quite entitled to ask what all the fuss was about. The story is only meaningful in the context of wider analysis. As far as Welsh-language broadcasting is concerned, the book offers occasional asides, assertions and accolades but there is no sustained