A comprehensive publication examining Welsh political transformation across two pivotal decades has emerged from H’mm Foundation.
The work traces the complex trajectory between definitive rejection and narrow acceptance of democratic devolution for Wales.
The publication challenges the common assumption that Welsh national politics commenced solely with the 1997 referendum.
Its author, John Osmond, demonstrates that devolution emerged from decades of aspiration and disappointment rather than spontaneous emergence.
The narrative illuminates the remarkable political reversal that transformed flat rejection in 1979 into the narrowest of victories eighteen years later.
The title derives from the poetry of Idris Davies, and the work adopts an unconventional literary approach described as documentary fiction.
This technique blends historical record with fictional narrative to create vivid storytelling.
Dialogue serves as the primary vehicle for advancing the account, a method prevalent in American literature but uncommon within British writing.
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood exemplifies the genre’s potential, while David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon demonstrates its contemporary application.
The introduction was crafted by Peter Finch, himself a significant literary figure who, alongside Osmond, has been instrumental in documenting Wales’s progression from regional obscurity toward national identity.
The author maintains that all depicted events genuinely occurred, though acknowledges inherent uncertainty regarding the boundary between documented history and imaginative reconstruction.
Primary sources including official records and interview materials feature prominently, while conversations reconstructed from memory appear where documentary evidence proves unavailable.
One particularly significant episode involves Gwynfor Evans and his 1980 threat to undertake hunger strike action following the UK government’s abandonment of its commitment to establish a dedicated Welsh language television channel.
The former Plaid Cymru president consulted with Pennar Davies, a Christian clergyman, regarding the ethical dimensions of such protest, including potential implications regarding civil unrest.
No verbatim account of their exchange exists, prompting Osmond to reimagine the conversation based on his familiarity with both individuals.
This approach raises questions about the nature of historical accuracy, yet demonstrates fiction’s capacity to convey truths inaccessible through conventional historiography, much as Hilary Mantel’s acclaimed novels illustrate.
The publication spans 650 pages, representing merely the second instalment of a broader project given Wales’s considerable historical depth.
Osmond’s journalistic background informs substantial portions derived from television programme transcripts his professional work produced.
The chosen genre necessitates substantial explanatory passages articulated through fictional speakers, occasionally producing moments such as geographical descriptions of northbound routes through mid Wales.
The narrative structure follows a journalist named Owen, unmistakably representing Osmond himself, alongside Rhiannon, a fellow reporter and political activist.
This female character ensures recognition of women’s participation in Wales during those decades, though the era’s political landscape remained predominantly masculine.
The author addresses women’s experiences comprehensively, encompassing the contribution of miners’ wives, the Greenham Common movement, and campaigning organisations advocating democratic reform, yet the extent of male political dominance during that period remains undeniable.
Owen and Rhiannon’s professional and personal lives become increasingly intertwined, with romantic elements confined to a brief interlude in Machynlleth placed between contemplation of political figures.
The account resumes following the 1979 referendum’s failure.
The UK administration’s approach lacked sufficient preparation, the Welsh electorate received inadequate information, and the Labour Party fragmented into competing factions simultaneously supporting and opposing its own proposal.
Plaid Cymru found itself campaigning for an institution lacking its genuine confidence.
The broader national context of industrial conflict and widespread disillusionment compounded these difficulties.
The prospect of prolonged Conservative governance remained unforeseen.
The miners’ dispute of 1984 and 1985 constituted a defining episode in Welsh history, presaging the eventual termination of coal extraction in the nation.
The confrontation proved turbulent, contentious, occasionally violent, and socially devastating, fundamentally shaping the subsequent two generations of Welsh political development.
Among the strike’s significant lessons was the revelation that working-class solidarity across Britain possessed limitations.
Welsh miners maintained substantial cohesion, with those at Cynheidre, geographically isolated in the coalfield’s western reaches, demonstrating distinct dynamics, and these workers were among the final to resume employment following the dispute’s conclusion in most English regions.
For certain activists, this represented the extinguishing of socialist aspirations, exposing the reality that international worker unity remained incomplete and that mining communities themselves faced elimination by an indifferent British administration.
Osmond contends the dispute transformed perceptions of Britain and Wales.
Many individuals concluded that dependence upon British governance for their future prospects had become untenable and that greater self-determination proved necessary.
Additional developments proved significant.
The Welsh language ceased functioning as a source of political division, with broader consensus emerging across political parties regarding democratic reform.
The notion that devolution might trigger domination by Welsh speakers, an objection persisting since the nineteenth century, increasingly appeared absurd.
Britain’s European Community membership substantially influenced political perspectives, with growing recognition that Wales required independent representation to secure European advantages and prevent marginalisation.
Crucially, Wales’s exclusion from governmental power throughout the eighteen Conservative years proved decisive.
Citizens questioned the utility of consistent Labour support when that party remained absent from UK administration.
This argument influenced figures including Ron Davies, who had opposed devolution in 1979 yet directed the successful campaign in 1997.
Osmond offers particularly insightful analysis regarding Labour politicians who altered or moderated their positions, individuals such as Donald Anderson and Leo Abse.
While the Labour Party continued struggling to define devolution’s precise meaning, widespread acknowledgment emerged that operating as an indivisible unit within the United Kingdom no longer served Welsh interests.
The documentary fiction approach presents certain difficulties.
Sections of text appear cumbersome, with considerable exposition forced into dialogue formats.
However, those familiar with Osmond recognise his tendency toward articulate, well-structured communication.
The work proves engaging and accessible, with its episodic organisation permitting focused attention on specific passages while allowing rapid movement through others without losing overall coherence.
The narrative concludes as devolution approached implementation.
Following John Smith’s passing in 1994, Ron Davies advocated strenuously for the most comprehensive form of devolution achievable.
The process encountered obstacles, with Tony Blair expressing limited enthusiasm and appointing figures including Jack Straw and Kim Howells to constrain devolutionary progress.
Consequently, the arrangements Labour introduced in 1999 proved ambiguous and imperfect.
Certain ambiguities received correction through the 2011 referendum, yet the internal Labour conflicts exposed during that period remained unresolved and continue creating difficulties.
The Welsh electorate, by contrast, has progressed beyond those divisions.
Should Osmond possess further inclination, substantial material from 1999 onward awaits examination.
His contribution deserves recognition.
Insufficient scholarship addresses devolution and Welsh political history generally, yet Osmond has almost certainly produced more extensive writing on the subject than any other individual, and his efforts contributed substantially to elevating the nation’s political discourse.
This volume narrates a considerable portion of Wales’s national story.