Nineteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction

Nineteenth-century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change - and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely urban and English. Christopher Harvie and H.C.G. Matthew show the forces behind Britain's rise to its imperial zenith, and the continuing tensions within the nations and classes of the 'union state'.
A introduction to nineteenth-century Britain, this is an account of a remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability.
The nineteenth century was a time of massive growth for Britain. In 1800 it was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half-Celtic. A century later it was largely urban and English. The effects of the Industrial Revolution caused cities to swell enormously. London, for example, grew from about 1 million people to over 6 million. Abroad, the British Empire was reaching its apex, while at home the world came to marvel at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with its crowning achievement--the Crystal Palace. Historians Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew present a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the social, economic, and political events that marked the era on which many believed the sun would never set.