The Industrial Revolution was one of the greatest changes in the history of society. It transformed Britain's "green and pleasant land" from an agricultural world into one dominated by machinery: spinning and weaving were mechanized; roads, railways and canals spread across the country; mining and factories wiped out the cottage industries and eroded a rural way of life for ever. Man's immense inventiveness and skill also created appalling suffering and cruelty, sacrificing humanity for profit in a society riven with inequalities that remian today. Yet, as the photographs in this book show, the "dark, satanic mills" and machines that changed the world are brilliantly, often beautifully designed, and the industrial landscape is haunting in its vast, imposing grandeur. Combined with lively writing and dramatic historical accounts, they transport our imaginations back to the revolutionary age of smoke and steam.
- ISBN10 0233966099
- ISBN13 9780233966090
- Publish Date 20 March 1975
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 17 October 2003
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint HarperCollins Distribution Services
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English