Customer Reviews

Great Introduction to a Complex Subject - By: E. Clothier, 16 Apr 2008
This is the first book I ever read on the Industrial Revolution, since then I have read about 15 others & written a dissertation on the textile industry during the late 18th & early 19th centuries.

It is a fantastic read & is accessible both casually & as a building block for further investigation into the period. There is a particularly good analysis of the banking & credit system, which is rarein many books which tackle the industrial revolution as a whole. Mathias provides an introduction which I firmly believe is second to none, he sets the scene well & throughout takes an academic yet stylised approach to the subject. Mathias also provides a fantastic series of tables & figuresin the back of the book, which compliment the text wonderfully.

My only word of warning, to anyone considering this as their first read on the subject, would be that it is relatively long. However do not allow that to put you off!