Forgotten Voices of the Industrial Age

It looks at people who continued to believe in the viability of manufactures in homes and small workshops, despite the rise of the factories; at those who linked industrial success with protectionism rather than free trade; and at the contemporary discussion of short-term booms and slumps. There were signs of a belief that the rise of manufactures had been gradual, since the reign of Elizabeth I; and there were even claims that British industry was in decline. Drawing on sources that include parliamentary debates and the correspondence of politicians, a new picture is presented of a time when rival perceptions of manufactures were in conflict, in a struggle that determined which views would be marginalised, and which would go on to form our traditional account of the "Industrial Revolution".