Changes in economic activities across 542 parishes from the beginning of national marriage registration in 1538.

Changes in economic activities across 542 parishes from the beginning of national marriage registration in 1538.

Using little-known archival material this study shows how English people attempted to define and control misbehaviour in England.

The industrial revolution stands out as a key event not simply in British history, but in world history, ushering in as it did a new era of sustained economic prosperity. But what exactly was the 'industrial revolution'? And why did it occur in Britain when it did? Ever since the expression was coined in the 19th century, historians have been debating these questions, and there now exists a large and complex historiography concerned with English industrialisation. This short history of the British Industrial Revolution, aimed at undergraduates, sets out to answer these questions. It will synthesise the latest research on British industrialisation into an exciting and interesting account of the industrial revolution. Deploying clear argument, lively language, and a fresh set of organising themes, this short history revisits one of the most central events in British history in a novel and accessible way. This is an ideal text for undergraduate students studying the Industrial Revolution or 19th Century Britain.

Migration to the cities had been a part of European rural life long before the start of modern industrialisation and urbanisation. In the era of modern development, however, rural-urban migration intensified in an unprecedented way and many rural communities depopulated. While during the pre-industrial period migration had contributed to the economic and social reproduction of rural communities, it now challenged the continuity of the rural lifestyle. This book analyses the topic for the case of Spain, which in the twentieth century experienced one of the most intense processes of rural depopulation in modern Europe. The interaction between Spanish industrialisation and rural migration, the demographic implications of agrarian change, the obstacles to the development of rural non-farm activities, the rural problems of access to infrastructures and services, the role of public policy, and the consequences of depopulation for the rural community are the central elements of this study, which inserts the Spanish case within its European context. Distanced from both the anti-modern stance that idealises paradise lost and the Panglossian mood that welcomes anything that came with modernisation, the book explains how the adaptive strategies put into practice by rural populations led to a “peaceful surrender” of traditional rural society.

This book explores the intimate relationship between literature and class in England (and later Britain) from the Peasants’ Revolt at the end of the fourteenth century to the impact of the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth. The book argues throughout that class cannot be seen as a modern phenomenon that occurred after the Industrial revolution but that class divisions and relations have always structured societies and that it makes sense to assume a historical continuity. The book explores a number of themes relating to class: class consciousness; class conflict; commercialisation; servitude; rebellion; gender relations; and colonisation. After outlining the history of class relations, five chapters explore the ways in which social class consciously and unconsciously influenced a series of writers: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Behn, Rochester, Defoe, Duck, Richardson, Burney, Blake and Wordsworth.

Enormously rich and wide-ranging, The Routledge Companion to Britain in the Eighteenth Century brings together, in one handy reference, a wide range of essential information on the major aspects of eighteenth century British history. The information included is chronological, statistical, tabular and bibliographical, and the book begins with the eighteenth century political system before going on to cover foreign affairs and the empire, the major military and naval campaigns, law and order, religion, economic and financial advances, and social and cultural history. Key features of this user-friendly volume include: wide-ranging political chronologies major wars and rebellions key treaties and their terms chronologies of religious events approximately 500 biographies of leading figures essential data on population, output and trade a detailed glossary of terms a comprehensive cultural and intellectual chronology set out in tabular form a uniquely detailed and comprehensive topic bibliography. All those studying or teaching eighteenth century British history will find this concise volume an indispensable resource for use and reference.