Reviews
An admirable work that is recommended for all libraries with collections on U.S. and economic history., Editor Hendrickson provides a nontechnical, broad overview of the causes of the Industrial Revolution, its progression, and the impact it had on the world. He looks at notable inventions, movements, historical figures, and changes in financial, economic, and political structures at the time, describing, for example, how the development of a spinning machine by Sir Richard Artwight in England led to a new economy of manufactured products. The iron and textile industries, with the development of the steam engine, played majors roles in an era that saw improved modes of transportation, communication, and banking, and resulted in an improved standard of living for many. This is the best three-volume historical study of the Industrial Revolution to date; it offers a valuable chronicle of the great economic change that affected 19th-century Western Europe, North America, the Commonwealth, and Japan. Verdict: An admirable work that is recommended for all libraries with collections on U.S. and economic history., This 1,000-entry work provides a wide understanding of the changes brought about by invention, discovery, and manufacturing processes that have shaped the past three centuries. A-Z entries cover the people, events, documents, nations, businesses, and institutions, which are described clearly in signed entries. Birth and death dates of key people are included. Information is accurate and balanced, and the work is especially strong on manufacturing in the past, the impact of technology on warfare, and in its international focus. The cutoff date for much information is usually 2009, such as in U.S. and Japanese populations. Recommended for academic and large public libraries., This is a workmanlike reference book with an eye to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. . . .[S]ome pretty obscure figures are covered in the biographies and they interested me greatly., This three-volume reference work sets out to provide a broad overview of the causes, progression, and impacts of the Industrial Revolution in a global context, examining notable historical figures, inventions, movements, and ideologies, and changes in political, economic, and financial structures. Entries range in length from concise one or two paragraphs for biographical or material entries, to much more substantial coverage for political theories or countries. . . .[T]he work succeeds admirably in augmenting the standard reference works suitable for undergraduate collections that treat the subject. . . .The new set provides students and others unfamiliar with the topic a valuable overview of the people, events, and institutions that forever transformed the modern world. Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduate and technical program students; general readers.
