Martin Daunton provides a clear and balanced view of the continuities and changes that occurred in the economic history of Britain from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain in 1951. In 1851, Britain was the dominant economic power in an increasingly global economy. The First World War marked a turning point, as globalisation went into reverse and Britain shifted to ‘insular capitalism'. Rather than emphasising the decline of the British economy, this book stresses modernity and the growth of new patterns of consumption in areas such as the service sector and the leisure industry.
Contents:
1. Introduction
Part 1
The Anatomy of the British Economy
2. Aristocrats, Agriculture and the Land
3. Industrialists and the Urban Economy
4. The Service Economy
5. The Growth of the British Economy
Part 2
Globalization and Deglobalization
6. Free Trade and Protectionism
7. Capital Exports
8. The Rise and Demise of the Gold Standard
9. Rebuilding the International Economic Order?
Part 3
Poverty, Prosperity and Population
10. Births and Marriages
11. Deaths and Disease
12. Rich and Poor
13. Cultures of Consumption
Part 4
Public Policy and the State
14. Taxing and Spending
15. Education
16. From the Poor Law to the Liberal Social Reforms
17. War, Reconstruction and Depression
18. Building a New Jerusalem
Index
