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Liberty's Dawn: A People's History of the Industrial Revolution

Online ISBN:
9780300194814
Print ISBN:
9780300151800
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Book

Liberty's Dawn: A People's History of the Industrial Revolution

Published:
15 March 2013
Online ISBN:
9780300194814
Print ISBN:
9780300151800
Publisher:
Yale University Press

Abstract

This book looks at hundreds of autobiographies penned between 1760 and 1900 to offer an intimate firsthand account of how the industrial revolution was experienced by the working class of Britain. The industrial revolution brought not simply misery and poverty, but in fact, the book argues, raised incomes, improved literacy, and offered exciting opportunities for political action. For many, this was a period of new, and much valued, sexual and cultural freedom. This personal account focuses on the social impact of the industrialization, rather than its economic and political histories. The book gets under the skin of the period and creates a cast of colorful characters, including factory workers, miners, shoemakers, carpenters, servants, and farm laborers.

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