The Age of Manufactures, 1700-1820 - Industry, Innovation and Work in Britain (Hardcover, 2nd edition)

This new edition provides an alternative overview of 18th-century British economy. Recent macroeconomic history has discounted many of the achievements of the Industrial Revolution, but this text dissects the characteristics and processes of industry in the 18th century. A male industrial revolution has been presented as the general experience, but new industries, notably in textiles and metal products, were primarily employers of women. This work gives these industries and their workforce due prominence. Technologies, work processes, labour forces and markets shifted in a variety of directions and forms to create a sector of dynamic new initiatives alongside stable and declining crafts. The key to the Industrial Revolution lies in the sources of technological creativity and the structures of industrial communities. The rise of the factory system was one result. This text reasserts the primacy of the industrial experience to Britain's economic history.