Description

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What is called the "Industrial Revolution" was not a phenomenon that occurred only in factories: agriculture, communication systems, population -in terms of its growth and distribution-, commerce, finance, the social structuring, the education and the valuation of the man underwent deep alterations in similar proportion to the industry.
As England is the country where this process originated, and therefore where the nascent cycle is outlined with more clarity and with more overwhelming aggressiveness, the study of the time in which the Industrial Revolution began to take hold in the english society. Many authors -economists and novelists among them- have dealt with this subject; some masterfully and with an overview, more frequently from well-consolidated ideological positions. Thus, they were biased and drew consequences that were absolute and vitiated. JIM Benson, of the University of London, instead presents us with an equidistant study of extreme positions, without failing to record anything truly important, with the objectivity that corresponds to his quality as a teacher in this aspect of History.
NO ONE who teaches at the London School of Economics can be sure how much of what he writes is his own and how much belongs to collaborators and disciples. This volume draws on the work of many scholars, and not all of them would agree with the interpretation offered here. In particular, my colleagues, H. L. Beales and FJ Fisher, have contributed more than they realize. The paragraphs on the cotton industry and on the standard of living of the workers have been taken from the investigations made by Miss Frances Collier, of the University of Manchester, and those on the coal and steel industries have been improved by reading an unpublished thesis by A. H. John. The statistical material, without which the book would not have been so solid, was compiled by an old pupil of mine, W. Ashworth; and the final chapter owes something to brief conversations with Professor WW Rostow of Harvard. I thank everyone.