A new edition of the leading textbook on the economic history of Britain since industrialization. Combining the expertise of more than thirty leading historians and economists, Volume 2 tracks the development of the British economy from late nineteenth-century global dominance to its early twenty-first century position as a mid-sized player in an integrated European economy. Each chapter provides a clear guide to the major controversies in the field and students are shown how to connect historical evidence with economic theory and how to apply quantitative methods. The chapters re-examine issues of Britain's relative economic growth and decline over the 'long' twentieth century, setting the British experience within an international context, and benchmark its performance against that of its European and global competitors. Suggestions for further reading are also provided in each chapter, to help students engage thoroughly with the topics being discussed.

T.S. Ashton has sought less to cover the field of economic history in detail than to offer a commentary, with a stress on trends of development rather than on forms of organization or economic legislation. This book seeks to interpret the growth of population, agriculture, maufacture, trade and finance in eighteenth-century England. It throws light on economic fluctuations and on the changing conditions of the wage-earners. The approach is that of an economist and use is made of hitherto neglected statistics. But treatment and language are simple. The book is intended not only for the specialist but also for others who turn to the past for its own sake or for understanding the present. This book was first published in 1955.

The industrial revolution of Britain is recognized today as a model for industrialization all over the world. Now with a new introduction by the author, this book is widely renowned as a classic text for students of this key period.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Why did the industrial revolution take place in 18th century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? Robert Allen argues that the British industrial revolution was a successful response to the global economy of the 17th and 18th centuries.

"In a vigorous discussion, which goes beyond the standard explanations that credit geographical factors, the role of markets, politics and society, Mokyr argues that the bases of the emergence of modern economic growth in Britain are to be found in what key players knew and believed, and how those convictions affected their economic behaviour. The belief in progress, coupled with the strategies to bring it about led Britain, and eventually most of the western world, into the modern era." "With a remarkably wide range of reference, and covering sectors of the British economy often neglected, this masterful book both synthesizes existing scholarship and provides a wholly new perspective for understanding Britain's economic development in the ageof the Industrial Revolution." --Book Jacket.