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Abstract
All A-level boards have included a modelling approach in the syllabus of their respective mechanics modules and the plethora of textbooks during the past decade is structured according to this approach. This review will attempt to show that these books have confused modelling that is specific to mechanics with mathematical modelling in general. To place the recent textbooks in perspective, this review outlines the logical structure of mechanics, how this relates to the specificity of modelling in mechanics, the philosophical assumptions underlying the traditional textbook, how these assumptions have influenced the modern textbook and how history has been rewritten to justify these assumptions. The conclusion drawn is that the modular scheme has made this confusion unsustainable.