Britain 1780-1850: A Simple Guide

This book draws together much of recent work by historians into a guide to Britain between 1780 and the Great Exhibition of 1851, traditionally regarded as the apex of Britain’s global economic dominance. It is deliberately written as a simple guide covering the key developments in Britain during these decades with footnotes that provide explanations of key terms and short biographies of key figures and a short reading list. After an introductory chapter examining what Britai...n was like in the 1780s, there are five chapters that look at political developments chronologically--William Pitt, Lord Liverpool, the Whigs in the 1830s, Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and as Prime Minister and a chapter on Ireland. This is followed by two chapters on foreign policy examining Britain and the French Wars between 1793 and 1815 and foreign policy under Castlereagh, Canning and Palmerston between 1812 and 1841. The second part of the book discusses thematically the ‘industrial revolution’ and the ways in which society and government responded to change. With the dramatic growth of population and people living in towns, the shift from small-scale to factory-based manufacture and growing criticism of the cost and effectiveness of working-class schooling and of provision for the poor, the state took an increasingly important role in social control through local and national action.