A Social Geography of England and Wales considers the theoretical concepts of the social geography of England and Wales. This book is composed of 11 chapters that discuss the theories of industrialization and urbanization. The opening chapters deal with the origins and settlement of English people, as well as the workings of feudal society with its hierarchy of groups of different legal status, ranging from the king through the base of the system. The succeeding chapters examine the vital formative phase in British social history. Other chapters explore the strengths and weaknesses of several ecological and economic models of urban structure that are transported from North America to Great Britain. A chapter looks into the variations in housing type and quality form intriguing reflections of fundamental differences in British Society based on a theory of housing classes. This text also surveys residents of the inner areas of many British cities now experience substantial social problems, which are compounded in areas of multiple deprivation. The final chapters cover the dispersion of urbanism into the countryside where it has provoked fundamental social and spatial changes related to commuting, retirement migration and tourism. This book is of value to historians, sociologists, researchers, and undergraduate students.

In recent years, the United Kingdom has become a more and more divided society with inequality between the regions as marked as it has ever been. In a landmark analysis of the current state of Britain’s regional development, Philip McCann utilises current statistics, examines historical trends and makes pertinent international comparisons to assess the state of the nation. The UK Regional–National Economic Problem brings attention to the highly centralised, top down governance structure that the UK deploys, and demonstrates that it is less than ideally placed to rectify these inequalities. The ‘North-South’ divide in the UK has never been greater and the rising inequalities are evident in almost all aspects of the economy including productivity, incomes, employment status and wealth. Whilst the traditional economic dominance of London and its hinterland has continued along with relative resilience in the South West of England and Scotland, in contrast the Midlands, the North of England, Northern Ireland and Wales lag behind by most measures of prosperity. This inequality is greatly limiting national economic performance and the fact that Britain has a below average standard of living by European and OECD terms has been ignored. The UK’s economic and governance inequality is unlikely to be fundamentally rebalanced by the current governance and connectivity trends, although this definitive study suggests that some areas of improvement are possible if they are well implemented. This pivotal analysis is essential reading for postgraduate students in economics and urban studies as well as researchers and policy makers in local and central government.

This series of essays on the state of modern British politics examines Thatcherism and government policies in relation to many topical subjects, such as trade unionism, employment for women, housing, racism, policing, industrialization, local government and environmental issues.

In this fascinating history of the British surveys of India, Matthew H. Edney relates how imperial Britain used modern survey techniques to not only create and define the spatial image of its Empire, but also to legitimate its colonialist activities. "There is much to be praised in this book. It is an excellent history of how India came to be painted red in the nineteenth century. But more importantly, Mapping an Empire sets a new standard for books that examine a fundamental problem in the history of European imperialism."—D. Graham Burnett, Times Literary Supplement "Mapping an Empire is undoubtedly a major contribution to the rapidly growing literature on science and empire, and a work which deserves to stimulate a great deal of fresh thinking and informed research."—David Arnold, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History "This case study offers broadly applicable insights into the relationship between ideology, technology and politics. . . . Carefully read, this is a tale of irony about wishful thinking and the limits of knowledge."—Publishers Weekly