ABSTRACT
During the Middle Ages Britain was on the edge of the European map and with the exception of the fishers of cod, British interest was focused on the continent. The transformation of Britain was sweeping onward from the 1600s and by the early 1700s Britain found itself to be among the intellectual, commercial, and military powers in the world. During the Middle Ages Britain was on the edge of the European map and with the exception of the fishers of cod, British interest was focused on the continent. The transformation of Britain was sweeping onward from the 1600s and by the early 1700s Britain found itself to be among the intellectual, commercial, and military powers in the world. The Industrial Revolution that was to make England the "workshop of the world", had its roots in the late 1600s, but it was not until the mid-1700s that the process became more pronounced.
