Marginal Europe

The momentum of the British industrial revolution arose mostly in regions poorly endowed by nature, badly located and considered backward and poor by contemporaries. Sidney Pollard examines the influence of geography upon the environment, asking why people living in marginal areas (mountains, forests, marshes) have taken the lead in key phases of European progress, such as in the Dutch Golden Age. Their societies are often despised by plainspeople but this study shows them to have pioneer qualities which enabled them to play a vital role in economic growth.