jjares reviewed The Industrial Revolution: A Captivating Guide to a Period of Major Industrialization and the Introduction of the Spinning Jenny, the Cotton Gin, Electricity, and Other Inventions on + 3278 more book reviews
The Industrial Revolution is an encompassing term that means more than I thought before reading this book. Some of this book reminded me of the book and miniseries NORTH AND SOUTH (by Elizabeth Gaskell) which is about the changes in British manufacturing after the Industrial Revolution. This guide from Captivating History does a wonderful job of telling the story of how workers fought the changes because they were afraid for their jobs. This is the fascinating story of how much wealth was created but (unfortunately) by the loss of jobs of many workers. Because of the times, they did not understand that they could be trained to use these new technologies and get higher-paying jobs.
One of the most amazing stories was how lowly concrete was rediscovered (after being lost from Roman times -- when Romans used it widely). This book explains how Joseph Aspdin created Portland concrete -- which is widely used today. Another interesting story was the modification of the making of paper. I've made paper by hand and it is a lengthy, hands-on process. With the machinations of papermaking machines, coupled with the Gutenberg printing press, the world of books exploded.
At first, England wanted to keep their industrialization and wealth to themselves but people from other countries came to study their ways or purchased technologies for their own shores. This book makes an interesting point about how the rest of Europe and America learned and prospered.
I was surprised to find just how interesting the revolution was. This guide explains why Great Britain was the place where all the aspects necessary for a revolution converged. Other countries also were affected but just not at the tremendous pace of England. By reading this book, I got the feeling that it must have been an exciting time to live because changes were constantly taking place.
One of the most amazing stories was how lowly concrete was rediscovered (after being lost from Roman times -- when Romans used it widely). This book explains how Joseph Aspdin created Portland concrete -- which is widely used today. Another interesting story was the modification of the making of paper. I've made paper by hand and it is a lengthy, hands-on process. With the machinations of papermaking machines, coupled with the Gutenberg printing press, the world of books exploded.
At first, England wanted to keep their industrialization and wealth to themselves but people from other countries came to study their ways or purchased technologies for their own shores. This book makes an interesting point about how the rest of Europe and America learned and prospered.
I was surprised to find just how interesting the revolution was. This guide explains why Great Britain was the place where all the aspects necessary for a revolution converged. Other countries also were affected but just not at the tremendous pace of England. By reading this book, I got the feeling that it must have been an exciting time to live because changes were constantly taking place.
