This is an account of the 140 year history of one of Britain's most distinguished iron and steel companies. Although the focus is on one firm, this is placed in the context of the economic changes which have taken place within the industry of England and the nation as a whole. The great industrial expansion of the early Victorian decades passed into the uncertainty of the last quarter of the century, then into chronic inter-war depression, and finally into the problems of slow growth and a de-industrializing Britain. Consett Iron Co. was involved in all these stages of national and economic development. Although in many ways seriously disadvantaged, it was a generally successful company until it succumbed within a nationalized British steel industry. The history of the company, spanning this vital period, together with the availability of archival material, makes this test case for theories of Britain's industrial decline. The industrial career of the company is outlined and analyzed, and the significance of its economic development and demise are considered in the context of the British economy.
- ISBN10 0198232977
- ISBN13 9780198232971
- Publish Date 1 July 1990
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 25 May 2000
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Oxford University Press
- Imprint Clarendon Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 206
- Language English