Throughout the twentieth century, Wales underwent rapid and far-reaching economic upheavals on such a scale that few avoided their impacts – from recessions, war, changing fortunes within the iconic steel and coal industries, the rise and decline of manufacturing, as well as the gradual rise to dominance of the service sector – the changes were as dramatic as was the intensity of attempts to deal with their consequences. Wales was a laboratory for government intervention in the economy, ranging from the attraction of investment and the clearance of land made derelict by industry, to the regeneration of urban areas. This is the first book to focus on these actions and to outline why, how and with what effect governments intervened, and it contains timely commentary as economic performance remains one of the most important issues facing contemporary Wales.

1937-1979 was a distinctive period in the political history of Wales. It began with a demand by MPs from all parties that a secretary of state be appointed, and ended in 1979 with the referendum on a Welsh assembly, the 'end of a era' in the words of Lord Cledwyn. This book shows how devolution was an issue in Welsh politics during the period under review, how British governments responded to devolutionists' demands, and how much was eventually conceded. Early on, two important developments were the setting up in 1949 of the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire and the appointment in 1951 of a minister for Welsh Affairs. Significantly the Council recommended in 1957 that a secretary of state be appointed and Labour acted on that proposal in 1964. The book examines the changing pattern of Labour thinking with regard to Wales and also the various nationalist challenges that threatened its dominance in the 1960s and 1970s. The referendum on the Labour government's devolution proposals is seen as bringing to an end a period in which both Labour and Conservative governments had been forced into a consideration of Welsh matters, and had been made to think about the precise way in which Wales should be administered within the British system.