The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present

Landes, David S.

ISBN 10: 0521094186 / ISBN 13: 9780521094184

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1976

About this Item

Paperback; reprint of a 1969 copyright; fading, scuffing, and edge wear to exterior; bump to bottom front corner, causing creasing to some page corners; fade spots to page edges; otherwise in good condition with clean text, firm binding.

Seller Inventory # 83562

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521094186
• ISBN 13: 9780521094184
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: UsedGood

About this title

Synopsis

Professor Landes's study, Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe, 1750–1914, first appeare as a chapter in volume VI of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe. He has now extended it by adding a full-scale analysis of modern industrial Europe from the First World War to the 1960s. In his new Introduction, Professor Landes discusses the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. He raises the general question: why was Europe the first to industrialize? His section on the inter-war years covers the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy, the reasons for monetary instability and the consequences of monetary difficulties for the economic history of Europe. In particular he discusses the causes of the economic crisis of 1929–1932, the reasons for its severity and quasi-universality and for Britain's early and sustained recovery. An important theme is the impediments posed by generalized international egoism to the efficiency and growth of the European economies. In his final chapter on the economic recovery of Western Europe after the Second World War, Professor Landes examines the forces which have operated since the early 1950s to give Western Europe a period of unprecedented economic growth. He raises the vital question: is this recent boom a temporary phenomenon or the first stage in a new trend of more rapid growth, reflecting an acceleration in technological advance?