ABSTRACT
The National Coal Board Film Unit has made The Story of Coal, which gives an informative and interesting chronological account of the development of mining in Britain, with full treatment of the nineteenth-century developments. There is a greater variety and quantity of source material available for this period than for any other - photographs, films, documents, newspapers, objects, buildings, recorded sound and even reminiscences of old people, though some of this material, especially films, can be difficult to obtain. The standard of the best filmstrips available for this period is high —artists' impressions are giving way to colour photographs. Two series of filmstrips, both of which arc examples of the improved quality of filmstrips becoming available, provide a general introduction to the period. The film Changes in the Franchise explains the main changes and results in the nineteenth century, but its diagrammatic treatment is rather pedestrian.
