13 JANUARY 1950, Page 24

Survey of British Journalism

Tilts is in no sense a complete history of the years of change, during which the revolution in British journalism was effected by such men as W. T. Stead, George Newnes, the Harmsworth Brothers, Alfred Pearson and others in the two decades before the First World War ; it is rather a running commentary by one who was behind the scenes, when young Alfred Harmsworth, with the help of his brother, Harold, was creating the vast fortune from his periodical business which enabled him, through the agency of Kennedy Jones, to acquire the Evening News, then to found the Daily Mail, in 1896. and finally to obtain control of The Times in 1908, and simultaneously to work a revolution in the conditions of employment in Fleet Street. Those who were familiar with Fleet Street in the first decade of the present century will find in Mr. Fvfe's book a most vivid series of portraits of men and events. It is over sixty years since Mr. Fyfe began his journalistic career in the somewhat austere sur- roundings of Printing House Square. He has certainly succeeded in making those exciting days live again. He records the changes in Fleet Street from the days when Press reporters wore top hats on their rounds to our own times. He describes the events which led up to the purchase of The Times by Northcliffe, the rapid growth in circulations, the development of newspaper advertising on a scale hitherto undreamt of, and at-some length he discusses what he terms " the public distrust of the Press." Even if we may

• not agree with all the author's conclusions, we can recommend the book as a vivid picture of Fleet Street during fateful years, which should be studied by all who are interested in the growth of British