Short description:

Now in its fifth edition, this book explores the ways in which the industrial revolution reshaped world history to offer a view into the international factors that started the industrial revolution, its global spread and its impact from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day.

Long description:

Now in its fifth edition, this book explores the ways in which the industrial revolution reshaped world history, covering the international factors that helped launch the industrial revolution, its global spread and its impact from the end of the eighteenth century to the present day.

The single most important development in human history over the past three centuries, the industrial revolution continues to shape the contemporary world. Revised and brought into the present, this fifth edition of Peter N. Stearns? The Industrial Revolution in World History extends his global analysis of the industrial revolution. Looking beyond the West, the book considers India, the Middle East and China and now includes more on key Latin American economies and Africa as well as the heightened tensions, since 2008, about the economic aspects of globalization and the decline of manufacturing in the West. This edition also features a new chapter on key historiographical debates, updated suggestions for further reading and boxed debate features that encourage the reader to consider diversity and different viewpoints in their own analysis, and pays increased attention to the environmental impacts.

Illustrating the contemporary relevance of the industrial revolution's history, this is essential reading for students of world history and economics, as well as for those seeking to know more about the global implications of what is arguably the defining socioeconomic event of modern times.

Table of Contents:

1 Introduction: Defining the Industrial Revolution  Part 1: The First Phase, 1760-1880: Western Primacy, Global Contexts, and Global Results  2 Britain?s Revolution  3 New Causes  4 The Industrial Revolution in Western Society  5 The Social Impact of the Industrial Revolution  6 The Industrial Revolution Outside the West  Part 2: The Second Phase, 1880-1950: The New International Cast  7 The Industrial Revolution Changes Stripes, 1880?1950  8 The Industrial Revolution in Russia  9 The Industrial Revolution in Japan  10 New Developments in Western Societies: A Second Revolution?  11 The Industrial Revolution in International Context  Part 3: The Third Phase, 1950s-2020s: The Industrialization of the World  12 The Industrial Revolution in the Past Seventy Years 13 New Industrial Revolutions: Transforming the International Balance Sheet  14 Advanced Industrial Economies: A New Revolution?  15 Globalization and Exploitation: A New World Economy  16 Global Industry and the Environment  17 Industrial Disruptions, 2008-2020  18 Conclusions  19 Suggestions for Further Reading