Exceptionalism and Industrialisation
Britain and its European Rivals, 1688–1815

This 2004 book debates British exceptionalism in the period from the Glorious Revolution to the Congress of Vienna.

Leandro Prados de la Escosura (Edited by)

9780521793049, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 June 2004

352 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.699 kg

Review of the hardback: '… consistently interesting and focused. This book is an important collection.' History

This 2004 book explores the question of British exceptionalism in the period from the Glorious Revolution to the Congress of Vienna. Leading historians examine why Great Britain emerged from years of sustained competition with its European rivals in a discernible position of hegemony in the domains of naval power, empire, global commerce, agricultural efficiency, industrial production, fiscal capacity and advanced technology. They deal with Britain's unique path to industrial revolution and distinguish four themes on the interactions between its emergence as a great power and as the first industrial nation. First, they highlight growth and industrial change, the interconnections between agriculture, foreign trade and industrialisation. Second, they examine technological change and, especially, Britain's unusual inventiveness. Third, they study her institutions and their role in facilitating economic growth. Fourth and finally, they explore British military and naval supremacy, showing how this was achieved and how it contributed to Britain's economic supremacy.

List of tables and figures
List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: was British industrialisation exceptional? Leandro Prados de la Escosura
Part I. The Origins of British Primacy: 1. Britain's economic ascendancy in a European context Robert C. Allen
2. Comparative patterns of colonial trade: Britain and its rivals Javier Cuenca Esteban
Part II. Agriculture and Industrialisation: 3. European farmers and the British 'agricultural revolution' James Simpson
4. Precocious British industrialisation: a general-equilibrium perspective N. F. R. Crafts and C. Knick Harley
Part III. Technological Change: 5. The European origins of British technological predominance Christine MacLeod
6. Invention in the Industrial Revolution: the case of cotton James Thomson
7. Continental responses to British innovations in the iron industry during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Rainer Fremdling
Part IV. Institutions and Growth: 8. The monetary, financial and political architecture of Europe, 1648–1815 Larry Neal
9. Towards the comparative fiscal history of Britain and France during the 'long' eighteenth century Richard Bonney
10. Money and economic development in eighteenth-century England Forrest Capie
Part V. War and Hegemony: 11. Naval power: what gave the British naval superiority? Daniel A. Baugh
Conclusions: Institutional change and British supremacy, 1650–1850: some reflections Stanley L. Engerman
Laudatio patritii: Patrick O'Brien and European economic history Gianni Toniolo
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Maritime / nautical trades [TRLT], Economic history [KCZ], National liberation & independence, post-colonialism [HBTR], Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], European history [HBJD]