The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present - Hardcover

Landes, David S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521826667 ISBN 13: 9780521826662

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

For over thirty years David S. Landes's The Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of industrial revolution and economic development in Europe. Now, in this updated edition, the author reframes and reasserts his original arguments in the light of debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth. The book begins with a classic account of the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. Professor Landes here raises the much-debated question: why was Europe the first to industrialise? He then charts the economic history of the twentieth-century: the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy; the economic crisis of 1929–32; Europe's recovery and unprecedented economic growth following the Second World War. He concludes that only by continuous industrial revolution can Europe and the world sustain itself in the years ahead.

About this title

Review:

"The first edition has long been a classic in the field...In 1969, Landes undertook the heroic task of surveying modern technological history. This path-breaking work asked the right questions, and provided insightful and balanced answers. It still repays reading by scholars of technological and economic history." Rick Szostak, The International History Review

"An unbeatable introduction to the economic history of the industrial and technologiocal revolutions in Western Europe." Military Review

Book Description:

For over thirty years David Landes's Unbound Prometheus has offered an unrivalled history of the making of a modern, industrialised Europe. Now, in this updated edition, he takes the opportunity to reframe and reassert his original arguments in the light of debates about globalisation and comparative economic growth.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0521826667
• ISBN 13: 9780521826662
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 590