The nineteenth century was a time of rapid change in forms of organization of economic activity. A central feature of such change was, inevitably, the development of new types of finance adapted to the radically new environment. An appreciation of the history of these developments makes a substantial contribution to the understanding of the growth and development of the British economy in one of its most dramatic phases. Philip Cottrell has written an impressively documented full-scale survey of this crucial period, discussing finance in the context of sweeping reforms of company law, unprecedented technological change and economic expansion, and the institutional effects of all of these. He is primarily concerned with English manufacturing industry but frequently refers, by way of comparison, to extractive industry, Scottish and Welsh developments and the economies of other West European countries. As well as providing a comprehensive overview, the book pays particular attention to coal, iron and textiles amongst the industries and, at the level of organization, to the emergence of the joint stock limited liability company and its gradual adoption by industrialists. The relationship between commercial banks and manufacturing receives detailed consideration and the role of internally accumulated funds and trade credit is discussed. this classic book was first published in 1980.

The nineteenth century was a time of rapid change in forms of organization of economic activity. A central feature of such change was, inevitably, the development of new types of finance adapted to the radically new environment. An appreciation of the history of these developments makes a substantial contribution to the understanding of the growth and development of the British economy in one of its most dramatic phases. Philip Cottrell has written an impressively documented full-scale survey of this crucial period, discussing finance in the context of sweeping reforms of company law, unprecedented technological change and economic expansion, and the institutional effects of all of these. He is primarily concerned with English manufacturing industry but frequently refers, by way of comparison, to extractive industry, Scottish and Welsh developments and the economies of other West European countries. As well as providing a comprehensive overview, the book pays particular attention to coal, iron and textiles amongst the industries and, at the level of organization, to the emergence of the joint stock limited liability company and its gradual adoption by industrialists. The relationship between commercial banks and manufacturing receives detailed consideration and the role of internally accumulated funds and trade credit is discussed. this classic book was first published in 1980.

This book, the first of its kind, will be of interest across several disciplines including economics, economic history, business history, British history and women/gender history The fact that the essays reach beyond Britain and include work on Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada, Sweden and the West Indies will stimulate interest throughout (and even beyond) the English speaking world There is a growing interest in the study of women’s economic activity, which reflects the recognition that economics and economic/business history are not gender neutral subjects

In the decades before 1914, the City of London was the premier international financial centre. However, this position was not long maintained, other industrial nations quickly and effectively challenged the influence of Britain, and following the disruption of the world markets caused by WorldWar I and the Great Depression of the 1930s, international hegemony slipped away for ever.The relationship of bankers and industrialists has often been cited as a key factor in this decline. Critics of the banks claim that, even before World War I, there were serious deficiencies in the financial provision provided by banks to the domestic industrial sector, and that these deficiencieshandicapped Britain's competitive advantage in world markets, leading to the decline of their influence and power.This book examines these claims, and bringing to bear important new data that presents the debate in a novel and revealing framework, expounds an economic rationale for historical bank behaviour. Using a rich source of contemporary records, it presents a series of micro-economic studies intocommercial bank assets and liabilities, financial crises, bank mergers, the professionalization of banking, the organization and conduct of the industrial loan business, and the nature of bank support given to industrial clients.The result is a new, authoritative interpretation of bank-industry relations in the half-century before World War I.

This accessible study investigates the role of banks in the finance of British industry, an issue which has long been the subject of dispute. From one perspective the history of British finance is one of success: from the late nineteenth century the City of London was the leading financial centre in the international economy. Yet there has been much disquiet over the level of support that banks have given to British Industry, particularly when Britain's economic hegemony was challenged at the end of the nineteenth century, and during the malaise which followed the First World War. Michael Collins weighs the conflicting arguments. Is there evidence of failure in the money markets? Has the estrangement of financial and industrial capital hindered Britain's economic development? He places these and other questions in historical context and provides a survey of literature on this contentious subject.

Premier historian Eric Hobsbawm's brilliant study of the Industrial Revolution, which sold more than a quarter of a million copies in its original edition, is now back in print, updated for a new generation. In Industry and Empire, Hobsbawm explores the origin and dramatic course of the Industrial Revolution over two hundred and fifty years and its influence on social and political institutions. He describes and accounts for Britain's rise as the first industrial power, its decline from domination, its special relation with the rest of the world, and the effects of this trajectory on the lives of its ordinary citizens. This new edition includes a fascinating summary of events of the last twenty years, and an illuminating new conclusion.