A Military History of Scotland. Edited by Edward M. Spiers, Jeremy Crang, and Matthew Strickland. Pp. xxii, 890. ISBN: 9780748633357. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012. £150.00.

Abstract

reviews were unlikely to occur in the winter of 1984-5 and that, because of this, Ravenscraig was 'a natural and compelling target' as evidenced by the government's strenuous efforts to keep the mill operational. However, the failed attempt to prevent disruption at Ravenscraig also revealed the strength of the forces opposed to the miners. Brutal and heavy-handed policing, determined official resistance, and co-operation between the leadership of the Steelworkers Union and the government, succeeded in inflicting a major defeat on the miners.One of Phillips's main concerns is to examine the variations in strike endurance within different collieries in the context of this official resistance. In doing so, he employs a sophisticated and innovative approach that examines both qualitative and quantitative factors in explaining variations in strike commitment. He presents three determining factors to evaluate the 'potential strike endurance' (PSE) of individual pits: the economic 'rationality' of striking, the extent of pre-strike industrial militancy in different areas, and the availability of 'community resources'. By the latter, Phillips primarily means the numbers of miners' wives in employment in the area (who could support families otherwise entirely reliant on strike pay) and council housing density (Labour-controlled council housing authorities reduced or deferred rent payment throughout the duration of the strike). The PSE is then measured against the 'actual strike endurance' (ASE) rates as recorded by the National Coal Board. The results of this approach are intriguing. For example, Phillips demonstrates that the economic viability of Scottish pits was actually inversely related to strike endurance, with viable pits remaining particularly committed to the strike. This was the opposite experience of Nottingham, where the profitability of pits ensured that only a minority of miners engaged in strike action. More importantly, where the quantitatively-determined PSE fails to explain the actual strike endurance in individual areas, Phillips is able to examine qualitative factors, primarily analysed through the moral economy of the mining communities, in explaining strike endurance. While this approach is far from perfect (Phillips himself admits that the larger hinterland of the postwar cosmopolitan pits made it difficult to unambiguously correlate collieries and communities), it does represent an exciting and innovative methodological approach with potentially widespread applicability.Collieries, Communities and the Miners' Strike in Scotland is an invaluable contribution to the historiography of the miners' strike and to modern Scottish history, situating the Scottish dimension of the dispute at the centre of the titanic struggle of 1984, and offering an exciting and sophisticated methodological approach that will pique the interest of labour historians everywhere.

Advancing electronic monitoring in Scotland: Understanding the influences of localism and professional ideologies

“…A small amount of evaluation research has been conducted about the effectiveness of specific EM modalities and pilot schemes (for example, see Armstrong et al, 2011; Barry et al, 2007). However, one overarching challenge that has inhibited more advanced conclusions being drawn in this research is the lack of available data to analyse the effectiveness of EM in Scotland, an issue encountered in each of the other jurisdictions in this study.…”