ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses England's industrialization within the framework of economic analysis. In general, in Britain, 'economic historians' are trained either as 'historians', in history departments, or as 'economic historians', in economic history departments, and rarely, if ever, as 'economists'. The structure of courses in economic history departments precludes the opportunity of advanced training in economic theory and statistical inference. The phenomenon of economic change is easier to understand, for there are always well-known forces at work, such as the weather and population growth, to produce economic change. There is a large literature on 'the rise of capitalism', which for long obscured the more important historical problem of modern economic growth, and on other aspects of economic change in pre-industrial economy. Social, cultural and political changes which preceded and accompanied the industrial revolution have often been mentioned as contributory causes of industrialization.
