British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective

Informationen zum Autor Robert C. Allen is Professor of Economic History at Oxford University and a fellow of Nuffield College. His books include Enclosure and the Yeoman: The Agricultural Development of the South Midlands, 1450–1850 (1992), and Farm to Factory: A Re-interpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution (2003), both of which won the Ranki Prize of the Economic History Association. Klappentext 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. Zusammenfassung This landmark global economic history explains why the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain by highlighting the ways in which Britain was different from other countries in Europe and Asia. Combining economic! social! technological and business history! Allen shows the importance of globalisation in explaining the divergence of East and West. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. The Industrial Revolution and the pre-industrial economy; Part I: 2. The high wage economy of pre-industrial Britain; 3. The agricultural revolution; 4. The cheap energy economy; 5. Why England succeeded; Part II: 6. Why was the Industrial Revolution British?; 7. The steam engine; 8. Cotton; 9. Coke smelting; 10. Inventors, enlightenment, and human capital; 11. From industrial revolution to modern economic growth....

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Robert C. Allen, Robert C. (University of Oxford) Allen
• Editore: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 09.04.2009
• EAN: 9780521687850
• ISBN: 978-0-521-68785-0
• Pagine: 344
• Dimensioni: 152 mm x 230 mm x 18 mm
• Serie: New Approaches to Economic and Social History; New Approaches to Economic and Social History
• Categorie: Saggistica; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, European History, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / General, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, HISTORY / Social History, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Georgian Era (1714-1837), HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Victorian Era (1837-1901), 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Economic history, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, British & Irish history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Industrialisation & Industrial History, C 1700 To C 1800, Industrialisation and industrial history