Railways And The British Economy 1830 1914

In a series of focused, thematic essays, the book examines railways as the first modern big businesses in Britain and the United States.

In this wide-ranging history of modern Britain, Eric Evans surveys every aspect of the period in which Britain was transformed into the world's first industrial power. By the end of the nineteenth century, Britain was still ruled by wealthy landowners, but the world over which they presided had been utterly transformed. It was an era of revolutionary change unparalleled in Britain - yet that change was achieved without political revolution. Ranging across the developing empire, and dealing with such central institutions as the church, education, health, finance and rural and urban life, The Shaping of Modern Britain provides an unparallelled account of Britain's rise to superpower status. Particular attention is given to the Great Reform Act of 1832, and the implications of the 1867 Reform Act are assessed. The book discusses: - the growing role of the central state in domestic policy making - the emergence of the Labour party - the Great Depression - the acquisition of a vast territorial empire Comprehensive, informed and engagingly written, The Shaping of Modern Britain will be an invaluable introduction for students of this key period of British history.

This text has been designed to cover all aspects and phases of the historical geography of England and Wales in a single volume. In its substantially revised and enlarged form, the treatment of standard themes has been completely re-written to take account of recent work and shifts in viewpoint while its overall coverage has been extended to embrace newer themes like symbolic landscapes and the geography of the inter-war period. Its comprehensiveness and freshness of approach ensure its continuing value and success as a text. Breadth of coverage from prehistory to 1939 Uses a range of data sources and approaches Well illustrated with particular emphasis on key themes Major revision of 1st edition with much wider range of topics