This is an authoritative and thorough analysis of the fortunes of the Welsh language in the most tumultuous period of its history. Twenty-one chapters discuss not only the numerical and territorial decline of Welsh but also its struggle for official recognition and its role in a wide variety of social domains. Of all the memorable phrases coined in the twentieth century, none has had greater resonance for the Welsh speaker than ‘Tynged yr Iaith’ (The Fate of the Language), and this volume provides a stimulating commentary on the processes of linguistic change, decay and revival experienced by the oldest spoken language in Britain. The fruit of the second major research project of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies of the University of Wales, this volume will interest and intrigue the general public as well as specialists in the field and help readers to familiarize themselves with the history of a language which, over the centuries, has been an integral part of the everyday life of the Welsh people and their sense of nationhood.

Table of Contents:
1. The Fortunes of the Welsh Language 1900-200: Introduction Geraint H. Jenkins and Mari A. Williams 2. The Welsh Language and the Geographical Imagination 1918-1950 Prys Gruffudd 3. Women and the Welsh Language in the Industrial Valleys of South Wales 1914-1945 Mari A. Williams 4. The Welsh Language Movement in the First Half of the Twentieth Century: An Exercise in Quiet Revolutions Marion Löffler 5. The Legal Status of the Welsh Language in the Twentieth Century Gwilym Prys Davies 6. The Attitude of Political Parties towards the Welsh Language J. Graham Jones 7. Journalism and the Welsh Language Robert Smith 8. Broadcasting and the Welsh Language Robert Smith 9. The British State and Welsh-Language Education 1914-1991 W. Gareth Evans 10. The Welsh Language and Religion D. Densil Morgan 11. Welsh Literature sine 1914 R. Gerallt Jones 12. The Riches of the Past? Recording Welsh Dialects Beth Thomas 13. The War of the Tongues: Early Anglo-Welsh Responses to Welsh Literary Culture John Harris 14. The History of the Welsh Language Society 1962-1998 Dylan Phillips 15. The Welsh Language Movement and Bilingualism: What can Local Organizations Achieve? Marion Löffler 16. We’ll Keep a Welcome? The Effects of Tourism on the Welsh Language Dylan Phillips 17. The Welsh Language and Agricultural Communities in the Twentieth Century Gareth Hughes, Peter Midmore and Anne-Marie Sherwood 18. The Welsh Language and Local Authority Planning in Gwynedd 1974-1995 Delyth Morris 19. The Other Celtic Languages in the Twentieth Century Glanville Price 20. Lesser-used Languages and Linguistic: Minorities in Europe since 1918: An Overview Robin Okey 21. Restoring the Language Colin H. Williams