The volume of essays offers accounts of national experience during the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the USA, including reappraisals of the classic accounts of the process of industrialisation in England by Phyllis Deane and in France by Francois Crouzet. The authors' 'new approaches' also emphasise nationalist political factors.

Notes on contributors; Acknowledgements; General maps and graphs; Introduction Mikulá∫ Teich and Roy Porter; 1. The British industrial revolution Phyllis Deane; 2. France François Crouzet; 3. The industrial revolution in Belgium Herman van der Wee; 4. Industrialisation in the Netherlands J. L. van Zanden; 5. German industrialisation Richard Tilly; 6. Switzerland Bruno Fritzsche; 7. Italy in the longue durée: the return of an old first-comer Carlo Poni and Giorgio Mori; 8. A latecomer: the modernisation of the Spanish economy, 1800–1990 Gabriel Tortella; 9. The industrial revolution in Sweden Bo Gustafsson; 10. Austria: industrialisation in a multinational setting Herbert Matis; 11. The industrial revolution: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia Milan My∫ka; 12. Hungary: a semi-successful peripheral industrialisation Ivan T. Berend; 13. The industrial revolution and the countries of southeastern Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Ljuben Berov; 14. Industrial revolution in Russia Roger Munting; 15. Revolutions and continuities in American development William N. Parker; 16. The industrial revolution - an overview Sidney Pollard; Index.

'… enormously impressive … The book can be commended to all who profess a serious interest in industrialization. The admirable lucidity of most of the contributions makes it readily accessible to undergraduates and other non-specialist readers. As an introduction to the merits of comparative economic history, and of the benefits which can be obtained from well edited collaborative ventures, it is a model'. History