Understanding the industrial revolution. . - Reviews - book review

Understanding the Industrial Revolution. Charles More. Routledge. [pounds sterling]45.00. 188 pages. ISBN 0415-18404-5. The aim of this study is to 'make the Industrial Revolution more comprehensible to students and non-economic historians'. By 'revolution' the author means the 100 years between 1750 and 1850. He focuses on industrialisation within Britain's economy, its causes and impacts and therefore excludes agriculture which, he recognises, also underwent profound changes. His aim is to explain why the 'revolution' took place and how. He therefore concentrates on the earlier years and on aspects such as canal and road building, rather than on railways which came later in the period. Mr More is right to stress that the Industrial Revolution was a unique event which had, by 1850, changed or helped to change Britain, to make her more wealthy and more urbanised. The author makes frequent reference to those economic theories and the now fashionable 'models' which are used to make sense of these wide-scale ind ustrial changes.

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