Preeminent among the committed "improvers" of the late eighteenth century, Arthur Young contributed to the popularization of new agricultural methods and machinery through his extensive publication of books and pamphlets, his editing of the Annals of Agriculture and other Useful Arts, his secretaryship of the Board of Agriculture, and his participation in learned societies. As a commentator on the state of the poor and the laws governing their existence both at home and abroad, he also provides insights into contemporary social conditions. His firsthand accounts of Ireland in the 1770s and France on the eve of the Revolution have proven especially valuable to modern historians.

Arthur Young was born in London on 11 September 1741, the second son of a gentry family of moderate means. His father was the Reverend Arthur Young, rector at Bradfield Combust near Bury St. Edmunds, prebendary at Canterbury, chaplain to Arthur Onslow (speaker of the...