Industry and Empire: The Birth of the Industrial Revolution [Paperback]

E. J. Hobsbawm (Author), Chris Wrigley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

An updated edition of the classic study of the Industrial Revolution by "one of the few genuinely great historians of our century" (The New Republic). Premier historian Eric Hobsbawm's brilliant study of the Industrial Revolution, which sold more than a quarter of a million copies in its original edition, is now back in print, updated for a new generation. In Industry and Empire, Hobsbawm explores the origin and dramatic course of the Industrial Revolution over two-hundred-and-fifty years and its influence on social and political institutions. He describes and accounts for Britain's rise as the first industrial power, its decline from domination, its special relation with the rest of the world, and the effects of this trajectory on the lives of its ordinary citizens. This new edition includes a fascinating summary of events of the last twenty years, and an illuminating new conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A masterly survey of the major economic developments and changes of the last two hundred years, sharply and ironically observed, and elegantly written. -- Guardian

An original and masterly reinterpretation of Western economic (not to speak of social and political) history, [from] by far the most gifted economic historian now writing. -- The Listener

About the Author

A fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Eric Hobsbawm teaches at the New School for Social Research in New York. He has written several highly praised books, including Age of Extremes, The Age of Empire, The Age of Revolution, and most recently, Uncommon People.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The; Upd Sub edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565845617
• ISBN-13: 978-1565845619
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to the econonomic history of Great Britain, June 20, 2006

By 

J.S.M. "socializer" (Seattle USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day (Paperback)

Industry and Empire is a rare book that incorporates both a economic historical perspective and a political perspective, both on the English scene and on the world scene. What you'll find in this book is a combination of a narrative of how exactly the industrial revolution started in Britain, how it effected the people involved, the social structures of society, how the political structure of Britain changed in response to the economic changes and how Britain's colonial ventures shaped this and were shaped by the changes that were taking place.

The book is good even if you're not particularly interested in the specific history of the emergence of the industrial revolution in Great Britain because it's a wonderful introduction to economic reasoning from a left perspective, real materialist economic history, and going through the book, which is not as easy as Howard Zinn, for instance, will give you an introduction to what's possible in analyzing how society works.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wide ranging introduction to the rise and decline of British industrial power, April 14, 2010

By 

Sirin (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day (Hardcover)

There is something a bit noxious about reading Eric Hobsbawm. He is truly one of our finest historians, weaving narrative histories of economic, political and cultural developments, with crackling detail on every page. But he is also an unrepentant Communist. And I do find it hard to believe that such a fine historian can persist in what I consider to be a grave moral blackspot of justifying the millions of deaths in Stalin's Russia on the grounds that they were trying to build a perfect society. Reading Hobsbawm is like cherishing a gorgeous girlfriend whose feet stink. Something catches in the throat.

Nevertheless, he remains a fine chronicler of the modern world. This book tells the story of how Britain went from a small agricultural island of fewer than 10 million inhabitants in 1750 to the industrial powerhouse of the modern world, until its decline from the late 19th Century. Firstly in textiles, then in heavy industry, British capitalism - fuelled by the resources and labour of Empire, truly did shape the economic systems of the modern world. Then it all went wrong into the 20th Century. The centre of power shifted away from Britain towards America, other European powers, and latterly the far East. Involvement in two world wars finished Britain as a significant power. A legacy we are still trying to come to terms with.

Hobsbawm tackles key historical questions. Such as why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Britain, not elsewhere? And to what extent was industrial might built upon the broken backs of the poor? (A great deal - the average life expectancy of an industrial worker in the mid 1800s was under 20). Communist that he is, some of Hobsbawm's analysis might come across as somewhat skewed. For example he believes Britain made a great mistake after World War II in only semi-embracing a centrally planned economy (he doesn't seem to acknowledge the wholesale failure of such economies elsewhere in the world, and this was palpable even at the time he wrote this in the 1960s).

A great deal of economic, political social history is covered in this slim volume, such as how industrial working class culture gave rise to the trade union movements, and culture such as gin palaces and music halls. The movements in Wales, Scotland and, to an extent, Ireland are not neglected, and one certainly gets a sweep of the huge changes in Britain's history given the wide timescale of the volume. Tracing the story of field dwelling semi-feudal peasants shook up in Blake's 'Satanic Mills' of high industrial England, and spat back out again, Hobsbawm is a compelling chronicler of these fascinating times, his Communist sensibilities notwithstanding.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Cause of Progress, March 12, 2004

By 

Donald B. Siano (Westfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Industry and Empire: The Birth of the Industrial Revolution (Paperback)

So, why did the industrial revolution first happened in Britain, and not somewhere else? This is a hotly debated topic among a subset of historians, and has puzzled me for a long time. Is it due to the geography and natural resources of the Isles, the character of its people, or was it just one of those accidents of history? More than that, how do you properly formulate such a question, and what methods can be used to arrive at a sensible answer?

Hobsbawm is probably as well equipped as anyone to try to answer this question, and does a pretty good job of it, I think. At least his method, to concentrate on the antecedent macro-economic setting, and to compare its more or less unique features with other competing regions, rather than such vague and elusive possibilities of a superior political system or a certain theological proclivity toward work or something, appears to be sound. His focus seldom refers to personalities, nor, surprisingly, the technological inventions that were so important--he seems to assumes that they were made as a matter of course, given the business climate of the times.

The book covers much more than the industrial revolution-- it carries the narrative into the last half of the twentieth century, and covers the same ground in Wales and Scotland, too. His writing style is a pleasure to read and the book is accompanied by 52 graphs in an appendix that brings some additional meat to the table. This is quite possibly the best book around for understanding this critical period in the progress of man, and rewards time well spent.