Regions and Industries A Perspective on the Industrial Revolution in Britain [Hardcover]

It is the contention of this book that industrialization in Britain (and elsewhere) occurred first and foremost within regions rather than in the nation as a whole and that attempts to understand the 'first industrial revolution' as a fundamentally important economic, social and political process are best undertaken with the regional perspective at centre stage. In Regions and Industries a team of distinguished historians contribute a series of interconnected essays illustrative of the richness and variety of fundamental change at regional level. Each essay is focused around a set of clearly articulated themes, concerning the relations between agriculture, population, resources, communications and cultures, and the changing national and international context within which regional economies functioned. The volume provides a comprehensive analysis of the existing theoretical and empirical literature, and emphasizes again the need to evaluate aggregate studies of 'national' variables in the light of contrasting regional experiences.List of figures; List of maps; List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The regional perspective Pat Hudson; Part I. The Textile Heartlands of the Industrial Revolution: 2. Proto-industrialisation and the first industrial revolution: the case of Lancashire John K. Walton; 3. Capital and credit in the West Riding wool textile industry c.17501850 Pat Hudson; Part II. Other Paths, Other Patterns: 4. Continuity and change in an industrialising society: the case of the West Midlands industries Marie B. Rowlands; 5. Stages of industrialisation in Cumbria John D. Marshall; 6. The de-industrialisation process: a case study of the Weald, 16001850 Brian Short; 7. Work, culture and resistance to machinery in the West of England woollen industry Adrian J. Randall; Part III. The Diverse nature of the Outer Regions: 8. Two paths to economic development: Wales and the north-east of England Neil Evans; 9. Proto-industrialisation in Scotland Ian ls.