HISTORY BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS: 29

M A R T I N R O B E R T S Brays Grove Comprehensive School, Harlow

One group with no apparent lack of confidence in the future of History as a school subject are the educational publishers. Since the last History for Schools (June 1971), eighty-five titles have been sent for review, yet this num- ber includes by no means all the books which have come onto the market in recent months.

The major target of the publishers seems to be the Fourth and Fifth years of the secondary school, in particular the C.S.E. forms and there is now a welcome abundance of series from which to choose.

Directly comparable are four series from which the following titles have been sent for review:

(1) Ginn’s Aspects of Social and Economic History (R. K. Allday: The Study of Medicine, Stanley Gregory: Railways and Life in Britain, Kenneth Hudson: The Place of Women in Society, J. J. Tobias: Against the Peace and E. A. Smith : A History of the Press. 53p each.)

(2) Macmillan’s Signposts to History (Mary Cathcart Borer: The First World War, D. C . Brooks: The Emancipation of Women, A. A. C. Cardy: A History of Modern Road Transport, Roy Peacock: The Second World War and John Platts: A History of Flight. 35p each.)

( 3 ) Nelson’s Studies in Modem History (L. W. Cowie: The Super Powers, John Ray: The Place of Women, and R. Tames: Towards the Welfare State. 3 9 each.)

(4) Oliver and Boyd’s History Topics (T. G. Cook: Transport and Com- municatiom. 9Op.)

Each series consists of topics frequently appearing in C.S.E. syllabuses, described by a straightforward text lavishly illustrated by photographs, maps and diagrams. The best conceived and executed is the Ginn series. The texts are detailed without becoming difficult and enlivened by extensive quotations from contemporary sources. The illustrations, which include some in colour, are well produced and closely related to the text. Each volume has an index and suggestions for further reading and would be most useful either for class- work or for individual project work at both C.S.E. and ‘0’ level. The Nelson series is most attractive to look at, the page layouts and illustrations being of a high standard. The diagrams while original in design are sometimes obscure. The texts are generally sound and clear but have some unfortunate omissions. In Towards the Weyare State for instance, no mention is made of the influence of German and New Zealand schemes on British thinking while in The Place of Women the only reference to family planning, the bitter controversies about it and its transforming effects on the role of women in modern society is the coy comment that ‘improved medical knowledge enabled them (women) to limit the number of children that they had’. Mr. Cowie traces the history of the U S A . and Russia from the beginning of this century to the present day

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in The Super Powers. His is a balanced and well-written survey marred only by a failure to define in more than the most rudimentary way the terms ‘com- munist’ and ‘capitalist’. A feature of the series is a number of questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate further study, but there are no indices or suggestions for further reading. The only one of these series with hard covers is History Topics from Oliver and Boyd, hence presumably its signiscantly higher price. Mr. Cook pitches the text of his Transport and Communications effectively for C.S.E. pupils and the illustrations are well integrated with the text. The maps, however, are inadequate. More seriously, Mr. Cook does not seem to have made up his mind whether he is writing about transport in general or transport in Britain since 1700. His title and his final pages on air and space travel suggest the former, the bulk of his text the latter. This vagueness could lead to the misunderstanding among pupils that the only significant developments in transport before rockets were British.

The overall plan of Macmillan’s Signposts to History has been carefully considered. The format will suit C.S.E. pupils, the illustrations and maps are listed and most volumes contain suggestions for further reading as well as an index. What the series badly needs is an editor since the titles received for review vary markedly in quality. Nazi Germany by W. R. D. Jones and The Second World War by Roy Peacock are of a good standard with balanced texts illustrated by telling quotations and helpful suggestions for further reading. Mr. Platts surveys the story of flight from Daedalus to Apollo 11. He has a lively and humorous style which his readers will appreciate. He should make it clear though that the king Bladud whom he has flying over London in the ninth century is a mythical not a historical figure. More seriously, the sections on flight since 1945 are thin and the development of the modern aerospace industry into one of the most important and problematical industries of the modern world is not mentioned. D. C. Brooks also writes well with excellent contemporary quotations. About a quarter of his Emanci- pation of Women is devoted to the part played by education in impro%ng the position of women and this section is particularly well done. Nevertheless, there is a tendency to trivialize. ‘Bikini’ is indexed, ‘birth control’ is not. While there is space for Miss Alice Marble, who in 1933 wore skirts above the knee for the first time on the tennis court, there is none for Mrs. Besant or Dr. Stopes. The First World War by Mary Cathcart Borer is particularly dis- appointing. Though she has selected many excellent contemporary comments both in prose and poetry, her text is so unstructured that the outline of events and their significance is sometimes obscure and consequently the quotations are less telling than they might be. Almost a third of a short book is devoted to an inconsequential survey of Europe in 1914 which, despite its length, fails to give a satisfactory explanation of the causes of the war. The account of how and why the U.S.A. entered the war in 1917 is unnecessarily oversim- plified and the part played by her in winning the victory on the Western Front in 1918 under-emphasized. The maps are shoddy. Gage, we are told, was the key to the frontier defences in 1914. It is not marked on the relevant map. The map of the Gallipoli campaign places both Gallipoli and Constantinople in Bulgaria while the one of Europe in 1914 and 1919 has East Prussia as part of the Russian Empire in 1914! There are no suggestions for further reading. Mr. Cardy writes interestingly enough about the technical improve- ments to motor vehicles (including motor cycles) since the first steam car-

MARTIN ROBERTS 75 riages. He fails, however, to place these improvements in their social context and says too little about the massive increase in the private ownership of motor vehicles since the war and its effect either on other forms of transport or indeed on the whole nature of urban living. If the author is unable to refrain from using his conclusion to purvey ‘motorists’ lobby’ propaganda- viz. his recommendation that maximum speed limits on motorways should be removed-he (or an editor) should at least point out that such recommenda- tions are extremely controversial.

Obviously it is early days yet in the development of C.S.E. courses and publishers, like teachers and examining boards, must still be feeling their way. Having read through these series, my overall impression was that their format is impressive but that their texts, with certain exceptions, are missing some opportunities. There seems to be a tendency to avoid the conceptually more difficult aspects of a subject-e.g. the causes of World War I, the social effects of the motor-car, the meaning of ‘communism’ and ‘capitalism’. This is understandable. T am sure that anyone who has written worksheets for both ‘0’ level and C.S.E. groups would agree that the latter are harder to cater for. One cannot assume such a ready mastery of key political and economic concepts and must be much more precise and systematic in the definition of these concepts. But though it is hard, it is seldom impossible and the tendency to divide subjects into aspects, some of which are suited to C.S.E. (the technical improvement of the motor-car) and some of which are not (the social effect of motor-car ownership) is one authors should resist. It could lead to the trivializatioii of the subject-matter of history for a group of pupils most of whom will be in their last years of formal schooling, at that stage in their lives when they are beginning to be able to discriminate (and to care about discriminating) between the trivial and the significant.

The Methuen Era histories have also been aimed at C.S.E. pupils and are completed by three further volumes from Martin Ballard; (7, Revolutions and Steam Engines; 8 , The Age of Progress 1848-66 and 9, The World at War 1900-19Z8.) Mr. Ballard writes extremely well for C.S.E. pupils. His texts, while straightforward, are carefully structured and he does not evade difficult concepts. He is also careful to define words he needs to use but which are likely to confuse his readers (e.g. attrition). By focusing on an ‘era’ at a time and by making a judicious choice of eras, he is able to describe a number of important topics in some depth yet in a compact and inexpensive format. Within each era he ranges widely but relevantly to C.S.E. syllabuses. Number 7 for instance covers the American and French Revolutions, Napoleon, the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions and the founding of Australia. The maps, few in number, are adequate but the line drawings, while pleasant enough, add little to the text. These volumes might also be used profitably by above-average pupils in the second and third years.

There are a number of series at a rather more advanced level than C.S.E. Much more impressive than their Signposts to History, is Macmillan’s Sources of History, two new titles in which are A Short History of Farming by Frank Huggett and Smuggling by John Parker and John Wroughton (50p each). Hard-backed, well-illustrated and indexed with good and lengthy quotations from contemporary sources, they represent excellent value for money. The Parker/Wroughton volume tells the story of smuggling in England from the Middle Ages to the present day and is full of fascinating

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and horrifying anecdotes. Though the text, like the series as a whole, is best suited to ‘0’ level pupils and non-specialist sixthformers, it would also pro- vide an excellent introduction to C.S.E. project work. Huggett’s volume is more academic and contains suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter which refer the reader to works of major scholarship. Pupils below the sixth form will find it difficult. The history of farming is traced from the Middle Ages to c. 1870, but, though there is a section on the last hundred years, it is too brief to be of value. Another volume on this important topic alone would be welcome.

Another series which might appeal to more senior pupils is Chatto and Windus’ Studies in English History. G. R. Kesteven has produced three new titles-1870: Year of Change, The Boer War, and 1914. He writes fluently and succeeds in giving a vivid picture of aspects of his chosen subjects. I am puzzled, however, by the objectives of this series. It is designed, the prefaces tell us, to avoid the superficiality of the conventional textbook and by using contemporary records, to show each episode as it appeared to the people of the time. Yet there are few quotations from contemporary sources. Instead Mr. Kesteven prefers to describe how imaginary representatives of various classes might have felt at particular times in response to particular events. The series also claims to give a ‘more alive’ impression than a text- book can hope to give. It seems strange, therefore, that there are no photo- graphs to enliven the text and the few line drawings are so dreary.

A more exciting series from Chatto and Windus is The World in the Twentieth Century, two titles from which have been sent for review: Edmund Gray’s Road to War and Martin Gilbert’s The Second World War, 55p each. Mr. Gray has written a sound account of the causes of World War II which ‘0’ level and the stronger C.S.E. candidates should fmd useful but he is overshadowed by Mr. Gilbert’s analysis of the war itself. This is outstanding. The text not only has a vivid clarity but conveys the author’s horror as well as his knowledge of the events he describes. It should be as easily comprehen- sible to C.S.E. pupils as to sixthform specialists. The illustrations are arresting, the maps first class. What a pity it is that so few university scholars of Mr. Gilbert’s calibre seem ready to write for schoolchildren.

Of interest to those teachers who run world history courses for their fourth, fifth and sixthform nonspecialist classes is another Ginn series, World in Transformation (America: T. Halliday, China: R. J. Saywell, Russia: D. M. Sturley and India: C. Waterlow). The Russian volume costs 53p, the others 60p each. While Mr. Halliday concentrates on twentieth-century U.S.A., the other authors trace their nations back to the earliest times and lay unusual but welcome emphasis on the geographical, cultural, and religious factors which have helped to form these modern states. The illustrations, both in black and white and colour, are good as are the maps. The page paper is on the thin side, however, with the result that the print sometimes shows through onto the backing side. This is particularly marked in the Indian volume.

These are four new titles in the Then and There series-Scotland in the time of Wallace and Bruce by W. K. Ritchie, Scotland in the time of James VI by Hyman Schapiro, Captain Cook and the Pacific by David W. Sylvester and A Captain in the Navy of Queen Anne by John West (3Op each). They maintain the high standards which we have become accustomed to accept from this series with lively and scholarly texts, excellent and numerous maps

MARTIN ROBERTS 77 and illustrations and glossaries of technical or difficult words. I found Captain Cook and the Pacific particularly absorbing. They will suit a wide range of above-average pupils. Attractive for much the same reasons is the new Methuen Brief Lives series. The first four titles, all written by R. R. Sellman, are Brindley and Telford, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Newcomen and Smeaton, and George and Robert Stephenson (25p each). They are less detailed than the Then and There volumes and have no glossaries, ‘things to do’ or suggestions for further reading. The texts, however, are clear, sound and up to date, the many apt illustrations and diagrams of a high standard. The biographical approach is a good one for secondary school pupils and the choice and pairing of individuals so far has been wisely made. I should be surprised if this series did not prove most popular.

An ingenious idea successfully executed is History from Familiar Things by Stephen and Hazel Underwood, published by Gina So far four volumes have been produced, each with its own project book, on Place names, Street names, Coins, and Festivals and Holihys (30p each plus lop for the project book). The main texts are simply written and attractively laid out with line drawings, photographs, maps and diagrams while the project books con- sist of a number of questions and assignments for individual group work, related either directly or indirectly to the main text. It is a series which should have a strong appeal to teachers of 11-14 mixed ability classes, or of older children on non-academic courses, but they will regret that various assign- ments in the project books are not numbered and that a clearer distinction is not made between those questions which can be answered from the accom- panying text and those which demand access to other reference works.

The Wayland Pictorial Sources series also has a wide appeal though it is probably most suitable for fourth and fifth year individual work. New titles are The American Revolution by Roger Parkinson, The American Civil War by Keith Ellis and Twentieth Century China by John Robottom (Wayland 22 each). They consist of approximately 300 illustrations, which include maps and reproductions of important documents, so ordered and so closely linked with a short descriptive text that the history emerges both lucidly and strik- ingly. They can be strongly recommended for a departmental or school library.

The first titles of the Cambridge Introduction to the History of Mankind were reviewed at some length in recent History Books for Schools. All that I should like to note here is that two further titles-ne Pyramids by John Weeks and Life in the Old Stone Age by Charles Higham (price 52p each)- continue the high standards of this most attractively produced series.

Only four of the titles sent for review can be classified as textbooks. The second volume of A New History of England (Chatto and Windus, hard cover, S1-50) covers the years 1688 to 1815 and is by Yvonne Griffiths. It is a long book (350 closely printed pages) and deals with the main political, econ- omic and cultural developments of the period reliably and systematically, if a trifle tediously. It includes 7 genealogical tables, 26 maps and an excellent index. The only illustrations are portraits of some of the more important figures of the age in an eight-page centrepiece. More immediately attractive in appearance but less systematic and reliable are two volumes from the C.U.P. (Britain, Europe and the World by Dennis Witcombe, hard-cover, E1.20, and World History 2 by H. Browne, limp, El). Mr. Witcornbe’s title

78 HISTORY BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS

is rather misleading. Three-quarters of his volume is devoted to Britain, the rest is on Europe and the world only figures as an area of European expansion. Though his emphases are the conventional ones of politics, religion and ex- ploration, he devotes two chapters to English social history and one to science. Special attention is given to Elizabethan England (five out of twenty-two chapters). The pages are pleasantly laid-out and extensively illustrated, the maps boldly drawn and usually accurate, though Hawkins is mistakenly represented as voyaging to the West Indies before Africa in 1567-8 rather than vice-versa. The author writes engagingly for pupils of above-average ability in lower school forms but he makes some curious statements. One wonders what teachers, let alone pupils, will make of the statement that ‘the Anglican church was Lutheran in organization but Calvinist in doctrine’. Only a brave man would write a history of the world in the twentieth century in only 279 well-illustrated pages. Mr. Browne has had a good try. He con- centrates almost entirely on politics and analyses as well as describes some of the chief problems of the last seventy years. The overall result, how- ever, lacks balance. While the sections on Asia are impressive, those on the Americas, particularly the U.S.A., are extraordinarily thin. While there are eight pages on modern Nigeria, there is virtually nothing on the internal history of Russia in the 1920s and 1930s. There are also too many inaccurate or exaggerated statements. I t is not true, for instance, that in 1911 German business interests in South Morocco were non-existent, and it is surely hard to sustain the arguments that the intervention of the U.S.A. made little material difference to World War I or that in 1968 Germany had reached a dominant position in Europe comparable to 1914 or 1939. The index is poor -Palestine but no Israel, E.C.E. but no E.E.C.

The only textbook for children of below-average ability is Every Nation has a Story 3 by K. C. Evans and M. F. Donoghue (Oliver and Boyd. 6Op). It is not so much about nations as about various peoples since the end of the Roman Empire. The fist chapters are set in Europe-Byzantium, Barbarians and Vikings-but the latter ones range the world over to include Mayas, Polynesians, Maoris, Arabs and Japanese. There are simple pictures or maps on every page, the type is large and the style straightforward. There are also ingenious and clearly explained directions for the construction of relevant models. It is a book which teachers in secondary modern and comprehen- sive schools may well find useful.

Only a few titles are suitable for senior pupils. Two additions are made to the well-established Archive series edited by C. P. Hill and G. H. Fell; Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution by G. R. A. Withers and Joseph Chamberlain, Democrat Unionist and Imperialist by Robin Grinter (Arnold. 55p each). They maintain the high standard of the series, covering the major issues by means of a series of linked and clearly edited extracts from contem- porary sources (50 for Darwin, 73 for Chamberlain). Each section of the books is completed by a set of questions referring back to the main points, and the source material is listed at the end of each volume. Sixthform specialists will certainly find them useful, so might able fifthformers. Also from Arnold is the curiously titled Documents for History Revision series of which the General Editor is M. M. Reese. The first four volumes are all on British History, 1, 1485-1688 and 2, 16884815 by M. M. Reese, 3, 1815-1914 by T. D. Tremlett and 4, 1914 to the Present Day by J. G. Graham (35p each).

MARTIN ROBERTS 79 They are 58 pages long and each page is devoted to illustrating a different aspect of each period by a document (apparently unedited) and a number of questions about it. Both the documents and the questions are less sophisti- cated than in the Archive series. However, they are sensibly selected and should prove useful more as an introduction to sixthform topics than for revision.

Specifically for sixthform specialists in Modern European History is Berwick Coates’ Approaches to ‘A’ Level History I789-1871 (Allman. Sop). The author’s intention is to help ‘A’ level candidates in the selection and organization of material and to improve their essay technique. He is at pains to emphasize that he is not writing model answers. Nor does he. Instead he selects ‘A’ level questions on the central topics of the period, in- dicates some of the pitfalls ahead of those who do not think carefully enough about the implications of their wording and then sets out the relevant factors, constantly presenting them in the form of questions to be answered rather than of stock responses to be learnt. Mr. Coates’ style is both vigorous and humorous. He knows the period well and his questions are stimulating and pertinent. The bibliographical sections are judicious and up to date. I should be surprised and saddened, however, to learn that there is a real need for a book of this type for ‘A’ level candidates in this country. Surely most sixthform history teachers already spend a considerable proportion of their time criticizing and encouraging the written work of their pupils along lines similar to those suggested here? Only those students who have to work towards ‘A’ level largely on their own would obviously benefit from Mr. Coates’ guidance.

The production of teaching kits or folders is a recent publishing trend clearly illustrated by the material sent for review. Well known already in this field are Jackdaws, three new titles of which are The Siege of Paris and the Commune compiled by Jonquil Antony, Clipper Ships and the Cutty Sark by David Johnson and Pepys and the Development of the British Navy by Richard Ollard (Jonathan Cape. 8Op each). Each is an intriguing collection of photos, facsimiles, broadsheets and notes which are characteristic of this series, particularly fascinating (perhaps because the subject lends itself to this kind of presentation) being Clipper Ships and the Cutty Sark. They will make excellent wall displays or stimulus material for C.S.E. project work but I remain sceptical about their potential for classwork. Though the exhibits have a tougher feel than they used to have, they remain comparatively flimsy and are not edited enough for individual or group study.

More scholarly and more carefully related to the classroom situation are the resource folders issued by the B.B.C. in conjunction with their recent Radio broadcasts History in Evidence. There are six units on Roman, Anglo- Saxon, Mediaeval, Tudor, Stuart and Restoration Britain respectively, edited by Alan Ereira. Their aim is to introduce schoolchildren to the varieties of evidence used by historians and the relationship between historical problems and historical evidence. The source material is presented with imagination and clarity and includes coloured slides, photographs of artefacts, illustrated reconstructions, diagrams and carefully edited contemporary documents. The booklet in each folder describes each exhibit in detail. It also poses problems both for immediate discussion and for detailed study which are directly related to the resources provided. This facilitates their use in the classroom. I would query, however, the B.B.C. claim that the programmes

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and folders ‘are suitable for use with a very wide range of pupils’. The evi- dence selected and the problems of further study suggested demand a con- ceptual level which will be attained only by the significantly above-average of the 11-14 age group for whom the series is ostensibly designed.

Much thought has gone into the most ambitious of the teaching kits- Longmaras History Project Kits: Tudor England: devised and produced by S . G. S . Associates (Education) Ltd for Longmans, f.3-50-but the result is not very satisfactory. It consists of 9 wallcharts, two units of 16 topic cards and a Teachers Manual which contains basic information on the Tudors and suggestions for class project work. The kit is divided into nine sections and, according to the editors, the material is grouped in such a way that the teacher may make ‘the maximum use of visuals’. The wallcharts, however, are usually too small to be satisfactory for class-work yet too large to be easily handled on a desk by individuals or groups of pupils. The topic cards do not con- nect in any obvious way to the nine sections of the Teachers Manual. Moreover since they demand unhindered access to a range of material beyond the resources of most history departments, they cannot easily be used with a class. The only teachers who might find the kit at all useful are those who know nothing about the Tudor period and who are unable or unwilling to plan their own lessons.

What, I suspect, most teachers want when it comes to kits and folders is not so much the Tudor Realm type which is constructed with a particular teaching method and sequence of lessons in mind but rather units of visual and documentary material which are both significantly more striking and sophisticated than can be obtained in book form and so produced that they can be used in a variety of teaching situations,

W. E. Brown, The First Bourbon Century in France. U.L.P. 9Op. J . Sabben-Clare, Caesar and Roman Politics, 60-50 B.C. O.U.P. E l . D. J. Hall and S. L. Case, Modern European History through maps and diagrams. Wheaton.

B. Catchpole, A Map History of the British People, 1700-1970. Heinemann. 15p. D. Turnbull, The Shape ofthe Twentieth Century, 2 vols. Macmillan. Sop. each vol. R. Pitcher and A. Harris, Towards a New Man. Longmans. 65p. J. J. Bagley, A History oflancushire. Darwen Finlayson. ;El 40. The Pergamon General Historical Atlas. Pergamon. €1 40. Ursula Aylmer, A Town Grows Up, and T. S. Hichens, The Christian Church (Oxford

Children’s Reference Library). O.U.P. €1.50 each. C. Francis, The Werfare of the Needy (It happened round Manchester). U.L.P. 5qP. F. Wilson and A. Kipling, Uniforms of Marlborough’s Wars. Charles Knight. fl.25. F. Field and P. Hakin, Twentieth Century State Education. O.U.P. 40p. F. Field and P. Hakin, BIuck Britons. O.U.P. 40p.

OTHER B O O K S R E C E I V E D

45p.