Overview

A revelatory new history of Britain's industrial revolution and the exploitation that enabled it Was Britain's industrial revolution the result of its machines, which produced goods with miraculous efficiency? Was it the country's natural abundance, which provided coal for its engines, ores for its furnaces and food for its labourers? Or was it Britain's colonies, where a brutalized enslaved workforce produced cotton for its factories? Acclaimed historian Edmond Smith shows how the world's first industrial nation was founded on the ruthless exploitation of technology, people and the planet. This economic system linked the plantations of the Caribbean with the colossal cotton mills of northern England, applied the innovations of science and agriculture to colonial exploration, and formalised financial markets in self-serving ways. At the heart of these processes were Britons themselves, early capitalists who spun webs of expertise and investment to connect exploitative practices across the globe. Ruthless offers an eye-opening account of Britain's economic transformation—and the scale and breadth of brutality that it depended upon.

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9780300278514

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Reviews

“A timely, eloquent, compelling examination of an increasingly thorny question.”—Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland: How Imperialism has Shaped Modern Britain   “In a contested and congested field, Edmond Smith has produced a thoroughly researched and original work which offers a much-needed global perspective on Britain’s rise in the eighteenth century. Ruthless is gripping and entertaining. What is more, it is clear and deftly written—a real joy to read.”—Emma Griffin, author of Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution   “Engagingly written and brilliantly researched, Edmond Smith delivers a superb account of Britain’s integration of national productivity and international domination. Smith shows us both the architects of this process and, crucially, those it ruthlessly cast aside.”—William Pettigrew, author of Freedom’s Debt: The Royal African Company and the Politics of the Atlantic Slave Trade   “Smith brings alive a Britain brimming with economic activity. Peering through the windows of London's coffee houses and Manchester's factories, they guide us engagingly through the country's heyday of relentless expansion.”—Anton Howes, author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation   “A panoramic new history that reveals how industry, empire, inventiveness and ruthlessness made Britain ‘great’. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the birth of the world’s first modern economy.”—Nicholas Radburn, author of Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade  

“Smith [writes] lucidly and with a remarkable command of detail.”— Linda Colley, Financial Times “This entertaining, well-researched narrative is filled with insight and timely perspective. . . . A must read for anyone interested in the birth of the modern economy.”—Unseen Histories “Smith’s great strength is to show that industrialisation is less a moment than a method. Instead, it is a self-replicating pattern of ingenuity and amnesia. His prose is cool, precise and quietly damning.”—Sam Olsen, Spectator “Well-told. . . A welcome addition to the historiography.”—Catherine Hall, HistoryExtra Magazine “A timely, eloquent, compelling examination of an increasingly thorny question.”—Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain “In a contested and congested field, Edmond Smith has produced a thoroughly researched and original work which offers a much-needed global perspective on Britain’s rise in the eighteenth century. Ruthless is gripping and entertaining. What is more, it is clear and deftly written—a real joy to read.”—Emma Griffin, author of Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution “Engagingly written and brilliantly researched, Edmond Smith delivers a superb account of Britain’s integration of national productivity and international domination. Smith shows us both the architects of this process and, crucially, those it ruthlessly cast aside.”—William Pettigrew, author of Freedom’s Debt: The Royal African Company and the Politics of the Atlantic Slave Trade “Smith brings alive a Britain brimming with economic activity. Peering through the windows of London's coffee houses and Manchester's factories, they guide us engagingly through the country's heyday of relentless expansion.”—Anton Howes, author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation “A panoramic new history that reveals how industry, empire, inventiveness and ruthlessness made Britain ‘great.’ A must read for anyone who wants to understand the birth of the world’s first modern economy.”—Nicholas Radburn, author of Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

“This entertaining, well-researched narrative is filled with insight and timely perspective. . . . A must read for anyone interested in the birth of the modern economy.”—Unseen Histories “A timely, eloquent, compelling examination of an increasingly thorny question.”—Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain “In a contested and congested field, Edmond Smith has produced a thoroughly researched and original work which offers a much-needed global perspective on Britain’s rise in the eighteenth century. Ruthless is gripping and entertaining. What is more, it is clear and deftly written—a real joy to read.”—Emma Griffin, author of Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution “Engagingly written and brilliantly researched, Edmond Smith delivers a superb account of Britain’s integration of national productivity and international domination. Smith shows us both the architects of this process and, crucially, those it ruthlessly cast aside.”—William Pettigrew, author of Freedom’s Debt: The Royal African Company and the Politics of the Atlantic Slave Trade “Smith brings alive a Britain brimming with economic activity. Peering through the windows of London's coffee houses and Manchester's factories, they guide us engagingly through the country's heyday of relentless expansion.”—Anton Howes, author of Arts and Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation “A panoramic new history that reveals how industry, empire, inventiveness and ruthlessness made Britain ‘great.’ A must read for anyone who wants to understand the birth of the world’s first modern economy.”—Nicholas Radburn, author of Traders in Men: Merchants and the Transformation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Author Information

Edmond Smith is professor of economic cultures at the University of Manchester, and the prize-winning author of Merchants: The Community That Shaped England’s Trade and Empire, 1550-1650. Merchants was described as ‘wonderfully wide-ranging and deeply-researched’ by William Dalrymple, and ‘a superb book’ by Jerry Brotton.  

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