ABSTRACT

The decline of British Industry in the late Victorian and early Edwardian period is the subject of major concern to economic and modern British historians. This book sets out the present state of the discussion and introduces new directions in which the debate about the British decline is now proceeding:
Among other themes, the book examines:
* the role of the service sector alongside manufacturing
* the distinctiveness of the British regions
* the state's role in the British decline including an analysis of its responsibility for the maintenance and modernization of infrastructure
* the association of aristocratic values with entrepreneurial vitality
* how British historians have discussed success and failure, with a critique of the literature of decline.

chapter |4 pages

INTRODUCTION

part |2 pages

Part I THE LITERATURE OF DECLINE

chapter 1|20 pages

CONVERGING ACCOUNTS, MISLEADING METAPHORS AND PERSISTENT DOUBTS

Reflections on the historiography of Britain’s ‘decline’

chapter 2|18 pages

1066 AND A WAVE OF GADGETS

The achievements of British growth

part |2 pages

Part II ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE

chapter 3|18 pages

INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE, THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND GOVERNMENT POLICY

An international comparison of British performance and policy 1800–1987

chapter 4|20 pages

COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH

New perspectives on the late Victorian and Edwardian economy

part |2 pages

Part III TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY

part |2 pages

Part IV INSTITUTIONS AND CULTURE

chapter 9|20 pages

Education and economic decline 1870–1914

An innocent suspect?

chapter 10|14 pages

THE VOICE OF INDUSTRY AND THE ETHOS OF DECLINE

Business citizenship, public service and the making of a British industrial élite

chapter 11|16 pages

THE CITY OF LONDON, 1880–1914

Tradition and innovation

part |2 pages

Part V A FRENCH PERSPECTIVE ON THE BRITISH DECLINE