The British industrial revolution in global perspective /
Allen, Robert C., 1947-
The British industrial revolution in global perspective / Robert C. Allen. - xi, 331 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. - New approaches to economic and social history . - New approaches to economic and social history. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 276-312) and index.
The Industrial Revolution and the pre-industrial economy -- I: The pre-industrial economy -- The high-wage economy of pre-industrial Britain -- The agricultural revolution -- The cheap energy economy -- Why England succeeded -- II: The Industrial Revolution -- Why was the Industrial Revolution British? -- The steam engine -- Cotton -- Coke smelting -- Inventors, enlightenment and human capital -- From Industrial Revolution to modern economic growth.
"Why did the industrial revolution take place in eighteenth-century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? In this convincing new account Robert Allen argues that the British industrial revolution was a successful response to the global economy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He shows that in Britain wages were high and capital and energy cheap in comparison to other countries in Europe and Asia. As a result, the breakthrough technologies of the industrial revolution - the steam engine, the cotton mill, and the substitution of coal for wood in metal production - were uniquely profitable to invent and use in Britain. The high wage economy of pre-industrial Britain also fostered industrial development since more people could afford schooling and apprenticeships. It was only when British engineers made these new technologies more cost-effective during the nineteenth century that the industrial revolution would spread around the world."--Publisher description.
0521868270 9780521868273 0521687853 9780521687850
2009455156
Industrial revolution--Great Britain
Economic history--1750-1918
Great Britain--Economic conditions--18th century
Great Britain--Social conditions--18th century
HC254.5 / .A663 2009
330.941073
The British industrial revolution in global perspective / Robert C. Allen. - xi, 331 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. - New approaches to economic and social history . - New approaches to economic and social history. .
Includes bibliographical references (pages 276-312) and index.
The Industrial Revolution and the pre-industrial economy -- I: The pre-industrial economy -- The high-wage economy of pre-industrial Britain -- The agricultural revolution -- The cheap energy economy -- Why England succeeded -- II: The Industrial Revolution -- Why was the Industrial Revolution British? -- The steam engine -- Cotton -- Coke smelting -- Inventors, enlightenment and human capital -- From Industrial Revolution to modern economic growth.
"Why did the industrial revolution take place in eighteenth-century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? In this convincing new account Robert Allen argues that the British industrial revolution was a successful response to the global economy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He shows that in Britain wages were high and capital and energy cheap in comparison to other countries in Europe and Asia. As a result, the breakthrough technologies of the industrial revolution - the steam engine, the cotton mill, and the substitution of coal for wood in metal production - were uniquely profitable to invent and use in Britain. The high wage economy of pre-industrial Britain also fostered industrial development since more people could afford schooling and apprenticeships. It was only when British engineers made these new technologies more cost-effective during the nineteenth century that the industrial revolution would spread around the world."--Publisher description.
0521868270 9780521868273 0521687853 9780521687850
2009455156
Industrial revolution--Great Britain
Economic history--1750-1918
Great Britain--Economic conditions--18th century
Great Britain--Social conditions--18th century
HC254.5 / .A663 2009
330.941073