{"product_id":"heroes-of-invention-technology-liberalism-and-british-identity-1750-1914-hardback-9780521873703","title":"Heroes of Invention; Technology, Liberalism and British Identity, 1750–1914 (Hardback) 9780521873703","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eHeroes of Invention\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eTechnology, Liberalism and British Identity, 1750–1914\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn innovative study of why inventors rose to heroic stature and popular acclaim in Victorian Britain.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eChristine MacLeod (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780521873703, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 20 December 2007\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e476 pages\u003cbr\u003e23.3 x 15.9 x 3.3 cm, 0.87 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e'In this interesting and valuable book, Christine MacLeod has chosen the inventor to reflect on British national identity, an individual she describes as an improbable hero. [She] has written an illuminating account of the way in which culture, economics, and politics converged to give to the inventor a brief hegemonic interlude.' Richard A. Cosgrove, University of Arizona\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eThis innovative study adopts a distinct perspective on both the industrial revolution and nineteenth-century British culture. It investigates why inventors rose to heroic stature and popular acclaim in Victorian Britain, attested by numerous monuments, biographies and honours, and contends there was no decline in the industrial nation's self-esteem before 1914. In a period notorious for hero-worship, the veneration of inventors might seem unremarkable, were it not for their previous disparagement and the relative neglect suffered by their twentieth-century successors. Christine MacLeod argues that inventors became figureheads of various nineteenth-century factions, from economic and political liberals to impoverished scientists and radical artisans, who deployed their heroic reputation, not least to challenge the aristocracy's hold on power and the militaristic national identity that bolstered it. Although this was a challenge that ultimately failed, its legacy of ideas about invention, inventors, and the history of the industrial revolution remains highly influential.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003e Abbreviations\u003cbr\u003e List of illustrations\u003cbr\u003e 1. Introduction: inventors and other heroes\u003cbr\u003e 2. The new Prometheus\u003cbr\u003e 3. The inventor's progress\u003cbr\u003e 4. The apotheosis of James Watt\u003cbr\u003e 5. Watt, inventor of the Industrial Revolution\u003cbr\u003e 6. 'What's Watt?' The radical critique\u003cbr\u003e 7. The technological pantheon\u003cbr\u003e 8. Heroes of the Pax Britannica\u003cbr\u003e 9. Debating the patent system\u003cbr\u003e 10. The workers' heroes\u003cbr\u003e 11. Maintaining the industrial spirit\u003cbr\u003e 12. Science and the disappearing inventor\u003cbr\u003e Epilogue. The Victorian legacy\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Industrialisation \u0026amp; industrial history [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Industrialisation \u0026amp; industrial history\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Industrialisation%20\u0026amp;%20industrial%20history%20%5BHBTK%5D%22\"\u003eHBTK\u003c\/a\u003e], 20th century history: c 1900  to c 2000 [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on 20th century history: c 1900  to c 2000\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%2220th%20century%20history:%20c%201900%20%20to%20c%202000%20%5BHBLW%5D%22\"\u003eHBLW\u003c\/a\u003e], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Modern%20history%20to%2020th%20century:%20c%201700%20to%20c%201900%20%5BHBLL%5D%22\"\u003eHBLL\u003c\/a\u003e], British \u0026amp; Irish history [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on British \u0026amp; Irish history\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22British%20\u0026amp;%20Irish%20history%20%5BHBJD1%5D%22\"\u003eHBJD1\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46265309004056,"sku":"9780521873703","price":110.88,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9780521873703i.jpg?v=1692021579","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/heroes-of-invention-technology-liberalism-and-british-identity-1750-1914-hardback-9780521873703","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}