Most scholars and students of modern British—and particularly of Welsh—history will have read something by Kenneth O. Morgan. For many, his works, most notably Rebirth of a Nation: Wales 1880–1980 and Britain since 1945: The People's Peace, are essential and regular points of reference. For those readers, opening this collection of essays will feel like sinking into a familiar armchair: they are, in both style and content, instantly recognizable as the work of this particular historian and current member of the House of Lords. The publication of Revolution to Devolution in 2014 marked Morgan's 80th birthday. It groups together essays and lectures written or given by Morgan from the past twenty years and also serves, in effect, as the sequel to Modern Wales: Politics, Places, and People—an earlier assemblage of his work that was published in 1995.
The first chapter offers a broad historiographical sweep that charts “the development of history writing about Wales” (3), arguing that historians have variously tackled the themes of conflict and consensus. In the second, Morgan gives us his perspective on the development of Welsh democracy, from the impact of the American and French Revolutions through to the rise of Plaid Cymru and the coming of devolution. This is followed by four chapters that home in on the relevance and the impact of four individuals in Wales: the “surprising hero” Abraham Lincoln, who was, Morgan argues in an entertaining read, “the very embodiment of [Welsh nonconformist] values” (51); Henry Richard, who was a “Welshman,” a “democrat,” an “educationalist,” and an “internationalist”; David Lloyd George, the “colossus,” of whom Morgan paints a favorable picture as the “foremost architect of the welfare state” and a leader who often handled events with “courtesy, charm and humour” (106); and John Herbert Lewis, a junior minister under, and confidant of, Lloyd George, who argued that Welsh Liberalism needed to be pushed “in a more openly nationalist direction” (124). Chapter 7 focuses on the First World War, explaining how “the basis of later Victorian society” and “its values” (146) were “cast asunder” by its horrors (152). In contrast, chapter 8 has a much narrower basis. It discusses the appointment of Alfred Zimmern to the international politics professorship at Aberystwyth University, which encouraged “internationally-minded Welsh progressives” (190). The next chapter returns to the theme of war, arguing that the interpretation of both world wars needs to be revisited (217). Chapter 10 is entirely focused on the Labor Party in Wales during the Second World War and up until 1951, while chapter 11 offers another broad sweep, charting the history and the development of devolution in Wales. Finally, chapter 12 turns to the issue of “Europe,” focusing on four men: David Williams, Tom Ellis, Saunders Lewis, and Rhodri Morgan, and arguing that “their Europeanism was central to their outlooks and, by extension, to the international outlook of Wales itself” (274).
This is rich and fascinating political history, with a focus in particular on high politics; however, some aspects of the collection feel somewhat redundant. Avid readers of Morgan's work will recognize some of the material because they will have read (often unchanged) versions of these essays elsewhere. On the whole, moreover, the essays are probably best read in isolation from one another because they were conceived as individual lectures or chapters for different sorts of audiences. Reading them in sequence is to more frequently encounter repetition of themes and material than one would in a monograph. By the time we reach the chapter on David Lloyd George—undoubtedly Morgan's favorite subject—much has already been said about him. It is also interesting to note that the tone of each essay differs slightly. For example, the lecture originally delivered on Lloyd George at Speaker's House is the most lighthearted and anecdotal. One obviously expects the political as well as the historical voice to shine through from a Labor Peer. But Morgan's sympathies are not conventional. These essays leave the reader in no doubt that he is a true admirer of late nineteenth-century Liberalism, and he finds various ways of linking this fondness with his contemporary stance on various issues. Thus, he argues that the European Union is something that the great Liberal Tom Ellis would have championed (33); that the “apostle of peace” Henry Richard would “surely have approved” (94) of those who protested against the invasion of Iraq, which Morgan did; that old Liberalism was “progressive” and “reformist” and a movement that Tony Blair looked back on with nostalgia (132). It is Liberal ideology and thought that dominates this collection.
These are for the most part observations rather than criticisms of the work. Morgan does seem to lament, however, that the “cozy” world of Welsh history fosters a “sense of fraternity” that often stifles and restricts “open disagreement” (4). He suggests that “argument” and “dissent” should happen more. So, with this in mind, Morgan calls Plaid Cymru a “major participant in Welsh democracy” (44) since the 1970s but makes virtually no comment about the role the Conservatives played before devolution, despite the fact that the party almost always received more votes and more seats at Westminster than the nationalists before 1997—totaling 14 in 1983 in comparison to Plaid Cymru's three. There were thousands of active Conservatives in Wales in the postwar period, and the party also played a significant role in kick-starting devolution with its (largely symbolic) introduction of a Minister for Welsh Affairs in 1951. Yet Morgan only choses to refer to the Conservative Party as an element of the “squierarchy,” and one that was complicit in the drowning of Welsh villages to create reservoirs (45).
On the whole, nonetheless, this is a lively collection of essays that are at various points touching (the account of John Herbert Lewis being particularly so), witty, engaging, illuminating, thoroughly researched, and highly readable. They cement Morgan's reputation as the great historian of the Welsh in British politics.
