An Economic History of London, 1800-1914 - Book Review

Journal of Social History, Summer, 2003 by Albert J. Schmidt

An Economic History of London, 1800-1914. By Michael Ball and David Sunderland (London and New York: Routledge, 2001. x plus 470p. $110.00).

This book's cover image of late Victorian Ludgate Circus depicts a fleeting moment in the life of a city that was at once a seat of empire, capital of the leading world power, and, above all, one on the go. Yet this tableau of horse-drawn omnibuses, coaches, carts, bicycles, and ubiquitous Cooks Tour advertisements is more than one of moment: it validates an epoch of Britain's prosperity and London's greatness. Broadly speaking, Ball and Sunderland address these two points.

The authors take great pains to underscore that this is a different kind of history, even economic history, of London. This is one by economists, and they purport to explain rather than merely describe. In so doing, they resort to economic analysis, which suggests tables, figures, formulas, and jargon. There is some of that, to be sure, but, by and large, the authors' style is lucid and their notions are more intriguing than intimidating.

Part I deals with economic theory as it applies to urban, or in this case London, history. What will be new to non-economists are concepts such as agglomeration and scale economies, path dependency, and locational theory. These theory terms are not just flaunted before the reader; rather they are applied (and effectively so) to the London situation. They are integrated with chapters on population and migration, work and industry, and wealth, poverty, and standards of living (Part II); with the mass market, leisure and pleasure, and suburbanization and housing (Part III); with travel to and from London; public transport within the city; and utilities and communications and their markets (Part IV); and manufacturing, domestic, clerical and professional services; and financial London (Part V). Part VI treats welfare and government and social policy and Part VII concludes the work with an assessment.

These stark divisions are misleading in that the book contains delightful vignettes that not only enliven the work but help define the kind of economy under discussion. The chapter on retailing, for example, comprises sections on street markets, milk shops, bread-making, sugar and confectioneries, cigarettes, soap, candles, and pharmaceuticals. "Leisure an J Pleasure" treats, among other things, drinking and brewing, gentlemen's and working men's clubs, wine merchants, hotels, music halls, church attendance, and even piano and organ manufacturing. "Moving Round London" discusses, as the author puts it, "the evolution of motion' from walking to trams and tubes. The chapter on utilities, communications, and markets details the creation of what had not existed in 1800--an infrastructure of water, gas, electricity, post, telegraph, telephone and wholesale markets. Manufactures are profiled initially in clothing, furniture and footwear and subsequently in shipbuilding, vehicles, and precision instruments. Lest the reader conclude that the economy is equated with things, two of the most informative chapters relate to services which vary from domestics to solicitors and accountants. The chapter on financial services is a goldmine, especially as it treats the period after 1860 when London became a player in the world market.

This is a marvelously entertaining--no, that is too strong, informative--work. The balance between economic theory and history is a healthy one and in no way taxes the reader. Such an approach would have been a welcome one in some of the chapters in the recently published Cambridge History of Urban Britain. Nor is London considered in a vacuum; it connects here with the provinces. The period demarcated is no doubt a crucial one in British/London history and deserves the recognition given here. The topics are deserving of the focus given although there are omissions. There is nothing here about city planning and architecture; on the other hand, housing is addressed.

The market has been awash, that is, comparatively speaking, with London histories over the past few years, but this volume in the Routledge Explorations in Economic History series, is one of the best and certainly most sophisticated. It is well documented (17 pages of notes), indexed, and contains a goad (16 page) bibliography.