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.
A major new global economic history that explains why the Industrial Revolution occurred in Britain.
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.
'Robert Allen has for decades been one of the broadest-ranging and
most imaginative scholars in economic history. In this highly
original and superbly-researched book, he has set new standards for
the study of one of the most critical episodes of human history,
the British Industrial Revolution. A must-read for scholars ranging
from eighteenth-century history to the economics of modern growth.'
Joel Mokyr, author of The Gifts of Athena and The Enlightened
Economy
'This important book should be required reading for anyone seeking
to understand the origins of the industrial revolution. It puts
technological change centre stage and places success in invention
firmly in the context of economic incentives and business realities
that made 18th-century Britain different. This is a stellar
demonstration of how subtle economic analysis informed by detailed
historical knowledge can provide a persuasive new interpretation of
a defining moment in world economic history.' Nicholas Crafts,
Professor of Economic History, University of Warwick
'Bob Allen has written, in his usual transparent style, a brilliant
book on two of the main questions of economics (or economic
history): why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Great
Britain, and why did it cause a fundamental break in long term
economic development. He argues convincingly that relative prices -
high nominal and real wages, and low energy costs - were
fundamental in inducing British entrepreneurs and inventors to
search for technological solutions that would be labour saving and
energy (and capital) using, and that the same relative prices
explain why this search process was successful on the British
Isles, and much less so on the European Continent. He also
demonstrates that, once this process of creative destruction was
set in motion, the efficiency of the technologies increased so
sharply, that they became highly competitive in different
environments - and therefore, after 1820, began to revolutionize
the world economy. One of the main strengths of the book is the
intimate knowledge the author has acquired of both the
technological processes involved, and the economics of
industrialization - it is based on a perfect marriage between
technological insights and economic analysis.' Jan Luiten van
Zanden, author of The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution
'Robert Allen's analysis will delight many economists, for he deals
in measurable factors such as wages and prices … This is a
beautifully written book, the language as clear as a brook and with
the same tumbling energy.' The Economist
'… the smartest thing I have read in at least a year.' Professor J.
Bradford DeLong, Department of Economics, University of California,
Berkeley
'Robert C. Allen's The British Industrial Revolution in Global
Perspective shows that it is still possible to say something new
and important on this most crowded of topics, and to do so with
lucidity.' Linda Colley, The Times Literary Supplement
'… stunningly good study of the Industrial Revolution … The book is
well written and is essential reading for anyone wanting to
understand the origins of industrial change in the eighteenth
century.' Historical Association
'This is the book you should use to teach the Industrial
Revolution.' Journal of Economic History
'The relationship between shari'a and politics is obviously
complex. Feldman's book provides an excellent starting point for a
subject notoriously difficult and little understood. Feldman gives
us a good place to start from, from, for it runs counter to most
Western thinking on the subject.' The European Legacy
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