Re: British exceptionalism

[Chris Burford <cburford@xxxxxxxxxx>]

There have been many factors, which in my opinion are broadly in conformity with
a framework of historical materialism, but it should also be said that the
English have been lucky.

Randomness is part of a pattern of probability.

Chris Burford


Quoting Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>:

> Leandro Prados de la Escosura, ed. Exceptionalism and Industrialisation:
> Britain and Its European Rivals, 1688-1815. Cambridge: Cambridge University
> Press, 2004. xv + 335 pp. Tables, figures, bibliography, index. No price
> listed (cloth), ISBN 0-521-79304-1.
> Reviewed by: Andrew Hann, Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester.
> Published by: H-HistGeog (December, 2004)
> Europe's Industrialization Compared
>
> This collection of essays, assembled to honor the distinguished career of
> Patrick O'Brien, began as a series of papers delivered at a March 2001
> conference in Madrid. The volume brings together some of Europe's leading
> economic historians to address the enduring question of British
> exceptionalism in the period 1688-1815. It examines why during this period
> Britain emerged from comparative obscurity to "a discernible position of
> hegemony in the domains of naval power, empire, global commerce,
> agricultural efficiency, industrial production, fiscal capacity and
> advanced technology" (p. i). The contributors' stated intention is to
> produce a "textschrift" that will make these debates accessible to "a
> larger audience of university students and non-specialist readers," and in
> this respect they are at least partially successful (p. xv). Key arguments
> are sketched out clearly in a readable style that will appeal to a wide
> audience. The assembled papers provide a good overview of current
> scholarship in the field, and highlight the variety of approaches that have
> been used. At the same time contributors have been given some latitude to
> introduce original research, so the volume is also a platform for taking
> the debate forward, while the extensive bibliography will prove useful for
> those who wish to trace the development of this debate in greater detail.
>
> full: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=80051105032296
>
> --
>
> www.marxmail.org
>
>




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