The Business Community of Seventeenth-Century England

A comprehensive study of the business community in a pre-industrial economy.

Richard Grassby (Author)

9780521890861, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 November 2002

648 pages, 9 tables
23.6 x 16 x 4.2 cm, 1.076 kg

"...the book is engaging and enjoyable to read and should convert anyone who still believes business is boring." Nuala Zahedieh, Jrnl of Modern History

This comprehensive study explores all aspects of the English business community as it developed between 1590 and 1720. Drawing on largely untapped records of private firms as well as on institutional archives, Richard Grassby describes and explains the economic and technical structure of business in a pre-industrial economy and examines the ways in which social values, demographic factors, the family, the state and religion distributed talent, trained and motivated businessmen and determined their life style. The important conclusion which emerges from his study is that individual initiative and a fluid social structure largely account for differences in response to economic opportunities between England and other pre-industrial societies. His book offers an empirically based analysis of why men entered business, how they lived and worked and what they achieved, and it will appeal to all who wish to understand the dynamics of pre-industrial growth and the interaction between business and society.

Introduction: Questions and sources
1. The status of business
2. Obstacles to entry
3. Funding and risk
4. Necessity and choice
5. The pattern of recruitment
6. Skills and motivation
7. Politics and government
8. The measure of success
9. Religion and ethics
10. Family structure
11. Consumption and leisure
12. A symbiotic culture
Conclusion. Private enterprise in a pre-industrial economy.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]