British Society 1680-1880: Dynamism, Containment and Change

by Richard N. Price

Overview

Richard Price offers a radical new interpretation of modern British history. He argues that the period 1680-1880 was a distinct era in British history, a dynamic period of much change but which was ultimately contained within clearly defined boundaries. Professor Price thus identifies the nineteenth century as the end of this period rather than the moment of modernity. Elegantly written and lucidly organized, this study will be of value to all scholars and students with an interest in this fascinating period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521657013
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/28/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.13(h) x 0.98(d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction: beginnings, periods and problems; 1. The economy of manufacture; 2. A universal merchant to the world: the political economy of commerce and finance; 3. The ambiguities of free trade; 4. The reach of the state: taxation; 5. The age of localism; 6. The public, the private and the state: civil society 1680–1880; 7. Exclusion and inclusion: the political consequences of 1688; 8. Exclusion and inclusion: defending the politics of finality 1832–1885; 9. The stabilities and instabilities of elite authority: social relations c.1688–c.1880; Afterword; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...historians and informed students will find in this work a suggestive and persuasive case for reperiodizing modern British history." Ian Duffy, History

"...the book has particular merit in making us think about the issue of periodization in social history is undoubted and on this score alone it is to be welcomed as an important contribution to the litereature...the book will undoubtedly help students to think about periodization in history rather than simply accepting the time periods with which we all too readily present them." Labor History

"The first paragraph in this book concludes by announcing that "it follows in the great tradition of works such as Asa Briggs's Age of Improvement, and Harold Perkin's Origins of Modern English Society, and will be of enormous interest to all students and scholars of the period." These are not slight claims, and one might well wonder whether the results will justify them. They do...No relatively short review (and probably not one a great deal longer) can do justice to this book...It is not a clichè to say that any student or scholar of the period must read this book." Albion

"This is a distinctly interesting work—"not a textbook," but "a general history"—in which Price advances "an argument about a particular phase of society's history." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"it will appeal to academic historians and will be valued by them...the book will undoubtedly help students to think about periodization in history rather than simply accepting the time periods with which we all to readily present them." Labor History

"Richard Price is the first historian of Britain to make a systematic case for viewing the eighteenth century and the first eight decades of the nineteenth as a distinct historical juncture that ought to be more for continuity than for change...laudably ambitious and often imaginative argument, and it reflects an impressive command of a ver rich and deep secondary literature." Jrnl Of Modern History

"...Prie has produced a brilliant work of synthesis and analysis that should be read by everyone interested in modern British history or in the history of the industrial revolution. Price writes with verve and clarity, and demonstrates an astonishing mastery of the historical literature. It is a challenging, thought-provoking, and important work. " Business History Review

From the Publisher