Recent Book: Wilkinson: Wilkinson's Road Traffic Offences
| Author | F. Graham Glover |
| Published date | 01 July 1973 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7304600314 |
| Date | 01 July 1973 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
scure or pretentious writing by soci-
ologists
and
environmental scientists
is
that
their subjects
have
not
yet
gained as much academic esteem as
they would like. Some of them strain
after 'expert' language because they
are
afraid
that
if their manner is
lucid their matter will be despised
.as elementary."
It
is difficult to resist the tempta-
tion to quote at length from this
admirably clear
and
persuasive book.
Fraser
has, in his own words, lov-
ingly preserved
the
best of the origi-
nal version. Some material
made
obsolete by the changes of 25 years,
for example
that
dealing with ration-
ing
and
shortages,
has
been elimin-
ated. A wealth of fresh
and
per-
ceptive comment has been added.
Sir Bruce combines a firm resistance
to error with an open-minded wil-
lingness to accept
and
even welcome
useful newcomers to the language.
He confirms Gower's condemnation
of
the
long-standing misuse of pro-
tagonist
and
makes some biting com-
ments on the newly-arrived modish
illiteracy, parameter. On
the
other
hand
he commends
the
tendency of
the world of space-travel to coin
simple
and
vivid phrases such as
/ift-off and splash-down.
The Complete Plain Words is a
valuable hand-book on current usage
and
should be required reading for
all who use words as
part
of their
job. In particular the chapter on
punctuation is a lucid exposition of
asubject
that
presents pitfalls to
many.
It
is also
a.
book
to be read
for pleasure; the entertainment value
of old friends such as
"the
boiled
baby" and new inventions such as
"the
buzz-phrase generator"
make
it a worth-while purchase for these
delights alone. E.L.R.
WILKINSON
P. J.
HALNAN:
Wilkinson's
Road
Traffic Offences. Oyez Publishing. £6.75.
This
book
has now been before - idly developing branch of law such
the
public for all
but
20 years
and
it is a tribute to
the
late
Mr. George
Wilkinson
that
Mr.
Halnan
finds
in
the
work an "unique flavour",
which he has thought it right to pre-
serve. Those familiar with
the
pro-
duction
WIll
appreciate the skill with
which this delicate task
has
been
accomplished
and
will applaud the
decision. Since the original slim
volume of less
than
130 pages ap-
peared in 1953
the
field has been
covered by an immense volume of
legislation including the Acts of
1960, 1962 and 1967, now largely
consolidated in the
Road
Traffic Act
1972,
and
this has called for a
corresponding increase in bulk, so
that
the present edition runs to
nearly 740 pages. The law is stated
as it was at the beginning of Oct-
ober, 1972. Unfortunately there is
no such thing as a deadline in prac-
tice and it is no
bad
test of
the
merits of a work devoted to a rap-
as this (though it could be unfair)
to note how the treatment accorded
to the various topics involved sur-
vives the impact of subsequent deci-
sions.
The
book
stands
up
well to
such an examination. This is not a
matter capable of being dealt with
in a short review. Nevertheless, it
can be suggested with some confi-
dence
that
the attentive reader, with
the material furnished by the
book
at his disposal, could well have an-
ticipated
the
conclusions on breath
tests to which the courts came in,
for example, Pugsley v. Hunter (de-
cided on
February
20, 1973)
and
R. v. Herd (March 14, 1973), though
Mr.
Halnan
was
not
able to allude to
the difficulty of reconciling the auth-
orities occasioned by R. v. Guttridge
(December 19, 1972). Wilkinson has,
over the years, proved its worth.
With Mr.
Halnan
its reputation is
in safe hands.
F.
GRAHAM
GLOVER.
TEACHING
CRIME
PREVENTION
DAN
G.
PuRSUIT,
JOHN
D.
GERLETTI,
ROBERT
M.
BROWN
and
STEVEN
M.
WARD
(Editors): Police Programs for Preventing Crime and Delinquency,
Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, lllinois, U.S.A. Cloth $17.50, Paper $10.75.
Described on the dust jacket as a
comprehensive cyclopedia, this
book
is
more
acornucopia overflowing
with instruction, good intentions and,
more
than
occasionally, amusement.
July 1973
It
represents askimming of many of
those modestly self-congratulatory
articles written by (or ghosted for)
chiefs of small police departments on
their favourable community rela-
286
To continue reading
Request your trial