In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a profound change swept across England. The rapid advance of technology increased industrial productivity to a level previously unimaginable. To support this new technology, people flocked from the countryside into the cities to take jobs in the factories. The movement caused a great deal of social unrest as technology replaced many of the "old ways", and the populations of cities swelled far beyond the ability of the government to provide adequate housing and services. Discover more about the lives of those who lived in one of the greatest periods of social change in the history of Britain.

Jonathan Downs' profile page

Jonathan Downs is a history writer and journalist, the author of Discovery at Rosetta, a revised narrative history of Bonaparte in Egypt and the British acquisition of the Rosetta Stone in 1801. Author of several history articles for different magazines he has also spoken out about the international controversy concerning the rights of native lands to reclaim their cultural property from western museums. He has edited and written commentary for a number of history titles, such as Sea-Soldier: The Letters and Diaries of Major T. Marmaduke Wybourn RM 1797-1813. He is currently the editor of a specialist collectors' magazine. An ex-patriate Briton raised in Canada, he now lives in Cape Town in South Africa.

“This is a short but sweet account of the social history of the industrial revolution. It explains how the rapid advance in technology of the late 18th and early 19th centuries shaped Britain's cities and the countryside and how it caused dramatic changes in people's lives. It is a well-written and accessible introduction for those with little or no previous knowledge. The book also has many illustrations and a useful list of places to visit at the back.” —Sue Wingrove, BBC History