The familiar industrialisation of northern England and less familiar de-industrialisation of the south are shown to have depended on a common process. Neither rise nor decline resulted from differences in natural resource endowments, since they began before the use of coal and steam in manufacturing. Instead, political certainty, competitive ideology and Enlightenment optimism encouraged investment in transport and communications. This integrated the national market, intensifying competition between regions and altering economic distributions. Despite a dysfunctional landed system, agricultural innovation meant that the south's comparative advantage shifted towards the farm sector. Meanwhile its manufactures slowly declined. Once industry clustered in the less benign northern environment, technological changes in manufacturing accumulated there.This book portrays the Industrial Revolution as deriving from economic competition within unique political arrangements.

Ch. 1. The view from little England -- pt. I. De-industrialisation : Southern England. ch. 2. The anomaly of the South. ch. 3. Scarce resources? ch. 4. Possible explanations. ch. 5. Further possibilities. ch. 6. Prosperity, poverty and bourgeois values. ch. 7. De-industrialisation and the landed system -- pt. II. Economic change. ch. 8. Politics and ideas. ch. 9. Transport and marketing. ch. 10. The pace of change -- pt. III. Industrialisation. ch. 11. North and South.

Places the British Industrial Revolution in global context, providing a fresh perspective on the relationship between technology and society.

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.

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.

Retrospective: 9.

The industrial revolution was the single most important development in human history over the past three centuries, and it continues to shape the contemporary world. With new methods and organizations for producing goods, industrialization altered where people live, how they play, and even how they define political issues. By exploring the ways the industrial revolution reshaped world history, this book offers a unique look into the international factors that started the industrial revolution and its global spread and impact. In the fourth edition, noted historian Peter N. Stearns continues his global analysis of the industrial revolution with new discussions of industrialization outside of the West, including the study of India, the Middle East, and China. In addition, an expanded conclusion contains an examination of the changing contexts of industrialization. The Industrial Revolution in World History is essential for students of world history and economics, as well as for those seeking to know more about the global implications of what is arguably the defining socioeconomic event of modern times.