Exceptionalism And Industrialisation

This 2004 book explores the question of British exceptionalism in the period from the Glorious Revolution to the Congress of Vienna. Leading historians examine why Great Britain emerged from years of sustained competition with its European rivals in a discernible position of hegemony in the domains of naval power, empire, global commerce, agricultural efficiency, industrial production, fiscal capacity and advanced technology. They deal with Britain's unique path to industrial revolution and distinguish four themes on the interactions between its emergence as a great power and as the first industrial nation. First, they highlight growth and industrial change, the interconnections between agriculture, foreign trade and industrialisation. Second, they examine technological change and, especially, Britain's unusual inventiveness. Third, they study her institutions and their role in facilitating economic growth. Fourth and finally, they explore British military and naval supremacy, showing how this was achieved and how it contributed to Britain's economic supremacy.

Closely linked essays examine distinctive national patterns of industrialization. This collection of essays offers new perspectives on the Industrial Revolution as a global phenomenon. The fifteen contributors go beyond the longstanding view of industrialization as a linear process marked by discrete stages. Instead, they examine a lengthy and creative period in the history of industrialization, 1750 to 1914, reassessing the nature of and explanations for England's industrial primacy, and comparing significant industrial developments in countries ranging from China to Brazil. Each chapter explores a distinctive national production ecology, a complex blend of natural resources, demographic pressures, cultural impulses, technological assets, and commercial practices. At the same time, the chapters also reveal the portability of skilled workers and the permeability of political borders. The Industrial Revolution comes to life in discussions of British eagerness for stylish, middle-class products; the Enlightenment's contribution to European industrial growth; early America's incremental (rather than revolutionary) industrialization; the complex connections between Czarist and Stalinist periods of industrial change in Russia; Japan's late and rapid turn to mechanized production; and Brazil's industrial-financial boom. By exploring unique national patterns of industrialization as well as reciprocal exchanges and furtive borrowing among these states, the book refreshes the discussion of early industrial transformations and raises issues still relevant in today's era of globalization.

Ch. 1. The view from little England -- pt. I. De-industrialisation : Southern England. ch. 2. The anomaly of the South. ch. 3. Scarce resources? ch. 4. Possible explanations. ch. 5. Further possibilities. ch. 6. Prosperity, poverty and bourgeois values. ch. 7. De-industrialisation and the landed system -- pt. II. Economic change. ch. 8. Politics and ideas. ch. 9. Transport and marketing. ch. 10. The pace of change -- pt. III. Industrialisation. ch. 11. North and South.

This text is a wide-ranging survey of the principal economic and social aspects of the first Industrial Revolution.

Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse and potential revolution. Anthony Page argues that between 1744 and 1815, Britain fought a 'Seventy Years War' with France. This invaluable study: - Argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war - Explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution - Highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.

A fundamental reassessment of the contribution of patenting to British industrialisation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

本书收录的文章研讨了关于英国历史上的国家、乡村、商业、城市化、人口、性别、宗教、思想、政治改革、历史分期等核心论题。