Pat Hudson is Emeritus Professor of History at Cardiff University, UK.

• Part 1 Writing and rewriting history: perspectives on the industrial revolution; the economy and the state; agriculture and the industrial revolution. Part 2 The industrial revolution: regions and industries; demography and labour; consumption and commerce; class and gender.

'Students will find this volume demanding and challenging, but their perceptions of both the Industrial Revolution controversy and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century social, economic and industrial history will emerge enlightened and their interest in the period stimulated.' Business History 'This is a textbook but one that can be read with profit by both professionals and students...Hudson frequently succeeds in neatly summarizing complex discussions. She brings her surveys of the literature right up-to-date and her knowledge of recent work is impressive...a lively and well-written text.' Economic History Review