The Industrial Revolution Summary and Analysis

Hobsbawm next addresses the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, pegging its "take-off" to that point in the 1780s when production was freed from the limitations imposed by earlier social and economic conditions and became essentially independent and limitless.

Hobsbawm calls the Industrial Revolution "the most important event in world history" (p 29). It could only have happened in Britain, he claims, for only Britain at this time has the strength in trade and the social conditions that will support it. Britain leads Europe in per capita trade and output, and its agricultural system is largely a market system, unlike most other European nations whose governmental structures are still closely tied to the land.

The Industrial Revolution is a revolution in the common sense of the word, Hobsbawm says, but unlike a political revolution, it is not...