Industrial Revolution

In a fascinating afterword, John Clare tells us that 'the historian has to consult as many sources as possible and try to come to a fair decision'. It's a shame that he's not provided his readers with a fuller bibliography as he has certainly not stinted in his research and the result is a fascinating, wide-ranging exposition of the technological achievements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their impact on society.

Clare points out that 'historians do not know exactly when Britain's industrial "take-off" happened' and he examines the interaction of economic, social and technological factors that encouraged the many inventions associated with industrialization. His survey takes in the industrial development of continental Europe, showing how countries such as Belgium attempted to gain industrial know-how by employing British workers when their own population found it hard to adapt to industrialization. He even touches on developments in the fledgling United States of America where 'innovative businessmen contributed ideas and inventions to the development of the Industrial Revolution from its beginning'.

Unlike many other titles in this series a range of illustrative materials are used, with photographs and engravings of the period as well as the much-vaunted colour photographic 'reenactments' - which here blend less self-consciously into the proceedings.

The only blemish in an otherwise admirable production is the frustration induced by trying to use a thoughtfully compiled index when page numbers are often printed against such a dark background as to be barely visible.