Reinventing the Economic History of Industrialisation

The Industrial Revolution is central to the teaching of economic history. It has also been key to historical research on the commercial expansion of Western Europe, the rise of factories, coal and iron production, the proletarianization of labour, and the birth and worldwide spread of industrial capitalism.However, perspectives on the Industrial Revolution have changed significantly in recent years. The interdisciplinary approach of Reinventing the Economic History of Industrialisation - with contributions on the history of consumption, material culture, and cultural histories of science and technology - offers a more global perspective, arguing for an interpretation of the industrial revolution based on global interactions that made technological innovation and the spread of knowledge possible. Through this new lens, it becomes clear that industrialising processes started earlier and lasted longer than previously understood.Reflecting on the major topics of concern for economic historians over the past generation, Reinventing the Economic History of Industrialisation brings this area of study up to date and points the way forward.Contributors include Helen Clifford (University of Warwick), Sarah Easterby-Smith (St Andrew's University), Margot Finn (University College London), Liliane Hilaire-Perez (Universite Paris VII), Morgan Kelly (University College Dublin), Beverly Lemire (University of Alberta), Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University), Patrick O'Brien (London School of Economics), Cormac O Grada (University College Dublin), Johan Poukens (Louvain University), Osamu Saito (University of Tokyo), Kate Smith (University of Birmingham), Keith Smith (Imperial College London), Herman Van der Wee (Louvain University), Jan de Vries (University of California, Berkeley), David Washbrook (Cambridge University), and Natalie Zemon Davis (University of Toronto).