Britain Ascendant: Studies in British and Franco-British Economic History: Comparative Studies in Franco-British Economic History

by Frangois Crouzet

Overview

François Crouzet is one of the most distinguished economic historians in the world whose life's work has been largely devoted to the study of European industrialization. In Britain Ascendant, a collection of essays spanning his career, he examines the rise of Britain to the position of dominance in the world economy in the nineteenth century and the concomitant decline of France. Special attention is paid to the problems of capital formation, foreign trade and the Empire. In later chapters, Crouzet examines the Anglo-French relationship up to the present day, attacking conventional wisdom and offering new perspectives on issues such as the Industrial Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521344340
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/25/1991
Pages:	524
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.33(h) x 1.34(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. England and France in the eighteenth century: a comparative analysis of two economic growths; 2. Criticisms and self-criticisms of a comparison; 3. When the Mediterranean looked to England; 4. The sources of England's wealth: some French views in the eighteenth century; 5. Capital formation in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution; 7. Great Britain's response to the French Revolution and to Napoleon; 8. Wars, blockade, and economic change in Europe, 1792–1815; 9. variations on the North Atlantic Triangle from York-town to Waterloo; 10. Western Europe and Great Britain: 'catching up' in the first half of the nineteenth century; 11. Trade and empire: the British experience from the establishment of free trade until the First World War; 12. British coal in France in the nineteenth century; 13. The core and the periphery of the core: Franco-british trade in the belle époque; 14. Problems of communication between Britain and france in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The standard of the papers included in this volume is extremely high. The value of his work lies most of all in its explicit and sensitive use of international comparisons, which has done much over the years to illuminate discussions of British industrialization. The book should be widely used..." The Times Literay Supplement

"Crouzet was almost unique among French historians of the 1960s in his engagement with the complex problem of the takeoff of British industrialization. He has participated in the debate with a group of mostly British scholars who for a generation raised interesting questions about when and why nations industrialized. And, unlike most historians on both sides of the channel, he has shown a real interest in how the British and French understand and misunderstand each other. This book well expresses this historian's project and should be of value to those seeking a better understanding of it." Gary Cross, Journal of Modern History

From the Publisher