The Age of Improvement, 1783-1867: Edition 2
Jun 2014 · Routledge
Ebook
496
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
The Age of Improvement has long established itself as a classic of modern historical writing. Widely read and quoted it has had a unique influence on teaching and research. This second edition draws on the great volume of new research - produced by Lord Briggs amongst others, since its original publication. The book stresses both the underlying unity and the rich variety of the age, and raises fundamental issues about a period of crucial change in British history - industrialisation, war, constitutional change and the attitudes of politicians towards it, political development, and, not least, society and culture. In the background are the new economic powers based on the development of a coal and iron technology; in the foreground, new social and political problems and new ways of tackling them. The author also discusses perceptions of, and reactions to, changing circumstances, the influence of religion and science on national life, and changing styles in art and literature. The story ends, not with a full stop but with a question mark. Could improvement be maintained? Could balance and progress continue to be reconciled?
About the author
Asa Briggs was born in Keighley, England on May 7, 1921. He received a BA in history and a BSc in economics from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1941. During World War II, he worked at Bletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire country house devoted to cracking German wartime codes. He taught at several universities including the London School of Economics; Worcester College, Oxford; Leeds University; the University of Sussex; and Open University. He wrote several non-fiction works including The Age of Improvement, Victorian People, Victorian Cities, Victorian Things, and a five-volume history of British broadcasting. His last two books were the autobiographies entitled Secret Days and Special Relationships. He died on March 15, 2016 at the age of 94.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
