ABSTRACT
Despite experiencing more gradual economic growth between 1750 and 1850 than was once thought, dramatic changes had still occurred to emphasize that Britain did undergo the birth of an Industrial Revolution in that century. Admittedly, there was still much tradi tional rural labour and domestic industry in the mid-Victorian era, plus margins of the nation where time had stood still. There were also areas of deindustrialization, labour immobility and poverty. But it would be misleading to suggest that Britain’s early Industrial Revolu tion was therefore a myth, that continuity outweighed the dynamics of change. Compared with 1750, Britain by 1850 had several large industrial cities with flourishing hinterlands, a vastly improved inter nal communications network, more efficiently organized agriculture, more sophisticated business techniques in overseas trade, financial institutions that in many cases still exist today, ongoing evidence of inventiveness and technological ingenuity, more intensive economic development in regions with good fuel resources and raw materials, and a reputation for producing quality manufactured goods at cheaper prices than most of her competitors.
