Welsh Journals

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to the reference sections of libraries and to the collections of those interested in the role played by Christian books and libraries in the long and immensely rich traditions of both English and Welsh Anglicanism. Geraint Tudur Bangor Nefol Dan: Agweddau ar Ddiwygiad 1904-05 golygwyd gan Noel Gibbard. Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, Gwasg Bryntirion, 2004. tt.240. £ 8.95 (Welsh language publication). In this centenary year, it is no surprise that volumes such as this have been published to celebrate aspects of the Welsh Revival of 1904-5. This is not simply an exercise for the pious: the revival was one of the more significant events of twentieth century Welsh history. It is high time that it received the judicious and critical treatment it deserves, not so that its memory may be blackened and its virtues explained away but so that its true importance can be established. This volume goes some way towards providing the information necessary to achieve this, though it also falls short of doing justice to the remarkable events of that 'year of rejoicing'. There are fourteen chapters in the volume by various authors, the editor contributing around half of them. Eifion Evans offers an overview of the background to the awakening, emphasizing the history of revival in Wales and the effects of foreign scientific and philosophical theories. Though it is undeniable that such theories appeared in the nineteenth century, it is debatable whether they had made any real impact in Wales by 1904. The following chapter outlines the contribution made by R. B. Jones, E. Keri Evans, Evan Roberts, J. T. Job, Nantlais, Sidney Evans and Jessie Penn-Lewis to the revival meetings. This is a descriptive chapter, written by various contributors, which restricts itself mainly to the events of 1904-5. Perhaps a fuller study of each individual would have been more beneficial. Among the other chapters can be found some which are particularly interesting and valuable. Noel Gibbard contributes chapters on the influence of the revival among the Anglicans a hitherto untapped source before charting the spread of the revival in England, Scotland and Ireland and looking at the revival's critics. Dewi Arwel Hughes undertakes the complicated task of expounding the premillennial doctrine which became the norm during the revival and does so with a mastery that belies the complexity of the doctrine