Available to listen. Last broadcast today, 21:30 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts). In the first of two programmes, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Industrial Revolution. Between the middle of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth, Britain was transformed. This was a revolution, but not a political one: over the course of a few generations industrialisation swept the nation. Inventions such as the machine loom and the steam engine changed the face of manufacturing; cheap iron and steel became widely available; and vast new cities grew up around factory towns. All this had profound effects - not all of them positive - as an agrarian and primitive society was turned into an industrial empire, the richest nation on Earth. But why did this revolution take place here rather than abroad? And why did it begin in the first place? With: Jeremy Black Pat Hudson William Ashworth Producer: Thomas Morris. Maxine Berg, 'The Age of Manufactures, 1700-1820: Industry, Innovation and Work in Britain' (Routledge, 1994) Jeff Horn, Leonard N. Rosenband and Merritt Roe Smith eds., 'Reconceptualizing the Industrial Revolution' (MIT Press, Cambridge, 2010). This provides a number of essays from leading writers on the subject and situates the topic within a global context. Emma Griffin, 'A Short History of the Industrial Revolution' (Palgrave, Basingstoke, 2010). This is a clearly written overview of several important key themes and written as an accessible text book. Joel Mokyr, 'The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain, 1700-1850' (Yale, 2010) Jan Luiten van Zanden, 'The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution: The European Economy in a Global Perspective, 1000-1800' (Brill, 2009) John Langton and R.J. Morris, 'Atlas of Industrializing Britain, 1780-1914' (Routledge, 1987) John Rule, 'The Vital Century: England's Developing Economy, 1714-1815 (Social & Economic History of England)' (Longman, 1992) Jeremy Black, 'An Illustrated History of Eighteenth Century Britain, 1688-1793' (Manchester University Press, 1997)THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Synopsis
Professor of History at the University of Exeter
Professor Emerita of History at Cardiff University
Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Liverpool.FURTHER READING
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Thu 23 Dec 2010
09:00
Thu 23 Dec 2010
21:30
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