Books with title Industrial Revolution: The 20th Century

It is one of a series which takes a fresh look at history by using original documents as the starting point for studying major events or periods in the past. Christine Hatt draws on a wide range of sources, from diaries and letters to speeches and legal documents. Each extract is set in context and is fully annotated. They have been set in modern type for legibility, but photographs of the original documents are also shown.

Each title in this wonderful series presents a two-part investigation of a major event or significant era in world history. A detailed narrative provides an analysis of the immediate significance of events, and their place in the bigger picture, going on to examine the consequences of these events & their impact both on contemporaries and the generations that have followed. This title examines the impact that the great industrial transformation of eighteenth-century Britain had on both the domestic and international scenes. After considering the nature and significance of revolutions in industry, power and transport, it goes on to consider the formation of an industrial working class, the reform and self-help movements that arose from it, and the struggle between reformism, the vested interests of capital and the laissez-faire of government. It asks what the 'Industrial Revolution' really was, and questions who benefited from it.

This series uses a variety of sources to give an insight into a particular period. The aim is to provide a history resource with a strong emphasis on evidence, using eye witness accounts from a range of source material, including diaries, letters and newspapers. An initial section introduces the period and the sources available. An extended quotation for the source is on one page, facing a commentary giving the historical background. The reliability of the sources is considered.