NEW APPROACHES TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY ted forthe Beamon History Soctey by vert co0se, Unies of Henfndeie any SEAL, Uniery of lina, Urbane Champaign New Approaches to Economie ad Socal History i an important aew texbook tis published in association with tbe Ezanomie Hay Soy. Ie provides concise but authoritve surveys of rj theme ad es strll economia tial key fom she pow Ror reco) tothe sendy. Books in he sis ae by tecogaised authors operating 2 thecuring edge of thei fd with an sy to wee clesnly and sca ‘The sein cons pincipall of sngle-ethor works ~ academically go. ccatand grundbrening ~ whisk offer correo, salva gue leah a level secon to advanced hol dens and undead Fistorans nd econo, The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective ROBERT C. ALLEN Univecsiy of Oxford CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESSCAMBRIDGE ‘ose Ping Hs Camree CR 8, hie Rigo Combet Pati pu of Ue of Cambie. nf the Unis’ mon ining ln hepa ok ‘Sa iy sd che hi eo ee of ane sme cemhe og, ornate, ww combi gs 700236878 pubes in capi. ej mena xen {nde preven ten cols fom eee ‘repos of yp may ake pla ou me fermions Camara nr ae cinch ited tae of Aen y Share os A elopuersr fr te publeion sae fom the Bh Lay ‘cry of URE or xl oth pay re wees id in {pandora a ny coo ck wre ‘ei omy aso or appre Contents ist of plates List of fiwres List of ables Acknowledgments 1 The Industrial Revolution and the perindustcal sconomy Pare The preindosral economy 2 Thehigh-vage economy of pre-industrial Brain 3° Theagacultual revolution 44 The cheap energy economy 5 Why England succeeded Pare It The industrial Revoution {6 Why was the Industrial Revolution British? 7 Thesteam engine 8 Conon 9 Cokesmaing 10 Inventor, Enlightenment and human capital 41 From dustrial Revoltion to moder ewanomic growth References Index ge 133, 135 156 182 217 276 3131) the Industrial Revolution and the pre-industrial economy “The genera rl i fale tht, when by increase of money, expensive habits of if, end tas the price of labour oes to Beadlaneed i « mannfcrrng and commercial county, more thas inthe oft commercial competitors, then that expensive ation wil seis commerce, and go to decay, st doth no ‘counterbalance te high price of labour bythe seasonal aid of Imechaicalinrentions.»» Notinghaw, Leicester, Bimonghom, ‘Shefeld, Re. must long ago have gieh up all hopes of ovign ‘commer, they had not ben consandy counteracting che ‘dvancing price of mana labo, by adopig every ingenious Sexproerene the hua mind could inv "T.Benley, Later the Uity.. of... Machines to Shorten Labour, 1780 ‘This book is about « historical problem: why did the industria Revolution happen in Britain, in de eightcnth century? Theories of «conomic development emphasize technological change a the imne- diate caase of growth, and hat was surely the ease fr industealiing [riain. The steam engine, the cotton spinning machinery, andthe ‘manufctare of iron with coal and coke deserve thei renown, for invention on this eae was unprecedented and it inaugurated aa era of industrial expansion and further technological innovation th ‘hanged the wold. Other features ofthe Industral Revolution (pid turbanization, capital accumulation, inceeaes in agricultural produc: tv the growth of income} were consequences of the improvements in technology. Explaining the technologies! breakthrough of the cighteeach century i, therefor, the Key to explaining the Industria Revolation, andi the est objsctive ofthis ook, ‘My explanation proceeds in two stages. Part {of this book ana- Iyzes the expansion of che caly modern fie. 1500-1780) economy and shows that it generated a unique sractare of wages and prices