All students of history use maps. This atlas is designed specifically to enhance the understanding of British history since 1700, as well as emphasizing social as well as economic change. The contributors are all subject specialists who have taught in higher education institutions, and a large proportion of both maps and text is based on their own original research. The combination of maps and text is intended to illustrate not only historical developments, such as the spread of agriculture or the growth of an integrated transport system, but also regional contrasts at points in time. The end product offers support for those historians who question the usefulness of thinking in terms of national economic histories.
What's the secret? Can policies "grow" the economy? How do leaders make their countries prosper? Since the earliest of times, humans have endeavored to uncover the causes of prosperity. Step by step, Sabillon tests the principal theories on the causes of economic growth against the facts of history. Here, for the first time, the economic statistics of the world are presented in a rationalized format that allows for an easy comparison across countries and through time, with a challenge to those who study them. What do the statistics show, and what are the trends beyond cherished theories that suit various political purposes? Tested against the historical data, textbook ideas and theories consistently come up short. Such analyses are highly troubling, because they reveal an absence of correlation between theory and reality. The data -- statistics illustrating the development of the world economy during the last several centuries -- was extracted from economic, history and economic history books, from publications of the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations' specialized agencies, research institutes and country statistical publications and other books and journals. Analyzing the data over geography and time, Sabillon concludes that contrary to contemporary wisdom, left to market forces alone, the economy will not and does not flourish. Only decisive intervention in support of manufacturing and technological advancement can provide growth. This systematic review of history and test of accepted dogma challenges economic theorists to consider one part of the equation of economic policy that has been wiped off the blackboard in today's politically-correct debates
In the momentous period -- barely 30 years -- covered by this systematic reference/guide, the Edwardian world was transformed unrecognisably, through war, technological progress and social change, into the Nuclear Age. It saw the coming of mass democracy, the apogee of empire, the Depression, the threat of fascism, the development of suburban society, and, as yet scarcely understood, the end of Britain's international hegemony. Andrew Thorpe's superb contribution to the Companions series illuminates all this and much else. It will be indispensable to anyone interested in the history and politics of modern Britain.
For both contemporaries and later historians the Industrial Revolution is viewed as a turning point' in modern British history. There is no doubt that change occurred, but what was the nature of that change and how did affect rural and urban society? Beginning with an examination of the nature of history and Britain in 1700, this volume focuses on the economic and social aspects of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike many previous textbooks on the same period, it emphasizes British history, and deals with developments in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland in their own right. It is the emphasis on the diversity, not the uniformity of experience, on continuities as well as change in this crucial period of development, which makes this volume distinctive. In his companion title Richard Brown completes his examination of the period and looks at the changes that took place in Britain's political system and in its religious affiliations.
An up to date short study which examines the key debates on British economic performance since 1914. Rex Pope considers the indicators and measures involved in assessing economic performance and then looks at issues affecting the economy such as the role of government, British entrepreneurship, the state of world markets, the effect of the two world wars and the importance of cultural attitudes towards industry.
Originally published in 1992, this book provides students with a well-illustrated, clearly written text which offers a coherent overview of Britain’s development from a pre-modern to a modern economy and society. The key processes that have shaped the geography of modern Britain are rooted in the significant demographic, economic, technological and social transitions of the early eighteenth century, the impact of which was not fully diffused through the nation until the mid-20th Century. This country-wide survey examines the nature of this transformation. The material in the book is accessible because the book is clearly structured into 3 phases: 1740 to the 1830s; the 1830s to the 1890s and the 1890s to 1950. For each period, the principal aspects of change in population, industry, the countryside and urban life are examined, and regional examples given to support the analysis.
This comprehensive and innovative book on the Industrial Revolution uses carefully chosen case studies, illustrated with extracts from contemporary documents, to offer new perspectives on the process and impact of industrialization. The authors look at the development of economic structures, the financing of the Industrial Revolution, technological advances, markets and demand, and agricultural progress. The book also deals with changes in demography, the household, families, and the built environment.
Since the earliest of times, human beings have endeavored to uncover the causes of prosperity. History is the best tool that society possesses for identifying and analyzing the factors that contribute to economic growth; yet economic statistics that lend themselves to comparison are hard to come by. Even academics who specialize in individual countries almost never present a set of statistics covering the whole 20th century - and for the previous centuries, the data is even more chaotic. Here, for the first time, the economic statistics of the world are presented in a rationalized format that allows for an easy comparison across countries and through time. Part One analyzes the most relevant ideas and theories that have been considered as causal variables of economic growth. It summarizes these ideas pedagogically and tests them against the historical data. The results of such analyses are highly troubling because they reveal an absence of correlation between theory and reality. Part Two presents a collection of statistics illustrating the development of the world economy during the last centuries. The data was extracted from economic, history and economic history books, from the publications of the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations' specialized agencies, research institutes and country statistical publications, and other books and journals. Analyzing the data over geography and time, Sabillon concludes that contrary to contemporary wisdom, left to market forces alone the economy will not and does not flourish. The factors that cause growth, he says, still need to bestudied with a fresh eye. This orderly and consistent presentation of statistics may be just the tool that helps future economic theorists to identify a reliable path to sustained growth. This analysis of the long-term historical development of the nations of the world is the culmination of a fourteen-year research project funded in part by the Swiss National Fund for Scientific Research, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, and by the Geneva Business Institute. * Carlos Sabillon has an advanced degree from the Institute of International Studies (Geneva, Switzerland) in Economic History. His book Manufacturing, Technology, and Economic Growth was published by M.E. Sharpe Inc., 2000.
