The unbound Prometheus : technological change and industrial development in Western Europe from 1750 to the present

For over thirty years David S. Landes's The Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of industrial revolution and economic development in Europe. Now, in this updated edition, the author reframes and reasserts his original arguments in the light of debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth. The book begins with a classic account of the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. Professor Landes here raises the much-debated question: why was Europe the first to industrialise? He then charts the economic history of the twentieth-century: the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy; the economic crisis of 1929–32; Europe's recovery and unprecedented economic growth following the Second World War. He concludes that only by continuous industrial revolution can Europe and the world sustain itself in the years ahead. This study first appeared as a chapter in volume VI of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe. The author has now extended it by adding a full-scale analysis of modern industrial Europe from the First World War to the 1960s. In the introduction, he discusses the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. He raises the general question: why was Europe the first to industrialize? His section on the inter-war years covers the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy, the reasons for monetary instability and the consequences of monetary difficulties for the economic history of Europe. In particular he discusses the causes of the economic crisis of 1929-1932, the reasons for its severity and quasi-universality and for Britain's early and sustained recovery. An important theme is the impediments posed by generalized international egoism to the efficiency and growth of the European economies. In the final chapter on the economic recovery of Western Europe after the Second World War, he examines the forces which have operated since the early 1950s to give Western Europe a period of unprecedented economic growth. He raises the vital question: is this recent boom a temporary phenomenon or the first stage in a new trend of more rapid growth, reflecting an acceleration in technological advance? For over thirty years David S. Landes's The Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of industrial revolution and economic development in Europe. Now, in this new edition, the author reframes and reasserts his original arguments in the light of current debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth. The book begins with a classic account of the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. Professor Landes here raises the much-debated question: why was Europe the first to industrialise? He then charts the economic history of the twentieth-century: the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy; the economic crisis of 1929-32; Europe's recovery and unprecedented economic growth following the Second World War. He concludes that only by continuous industrial revolution can Europe and the world sustain itself in the years ahead In this new edition of his classic history on revolution and economic development in Europe, David Landes reasserts his original arguments in the light of current debates about globalization and comparative economic growth. Questions about why Europe was the first to industrialize and the viability of the post-war economic boom are as controversial as ever and Landes concludes that only by continuous industrial revolution can Europe and the world sustain itself in the years ahead. First Edition Hb (1969): 0-521-07200-X First Edition Pb (1969): 0-521-09418-6 In this new edition of his classic history on revolution and economic development in Europe, the author reasserts his original arguments in the light of current debates about globalization and comparative economic growth. Questions about why Europe was the first to industrialize and the viability of the post-war economic boom are as controversial as ever and he concludes that only by continuous industrial revolution can Europe and the world sustain itself in the years ahead An extension of Prof. Landes' chapter in Volume VI of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe includes a full-scale analysis of modern industrial Europe from World War I to the 1950s. It is used widely in classrooms and highly praised by critics. When dealing with ambiguous terms, the first duty of a writer is definition. David S. Landes. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.