The Making of an Industrial Society

This is the first intensive study of an industrial community in early modern England. Whickham, a village built on an underground mountain of coal in north-east England, was arguably Britain's first modern industrial society.

David Levine and Keith Wrightson employ the latest techniques of socio-historical research and make full use of a wide variety of contemporary sources to explore many aspects of life in Whickham between 1560 and 1765. They bring together vital strands - including industrial development, agrarian change, social stratification, demography, religion, work, leisure, living standards, kinship and the family - to produce a rounded and vivid picture, which throws into relief the achievements, benefits, and costs of the complex process of industrialization. The development of Whickham is set in the larger context of socio-economic change during this period. This is a major contribution to the history of early modern England.

`succeeds brilliantly ... is a remarkably rich book ... an entirely effective reconstruction of the life experience of Whickham's pitmen and their families. All social historians should read this book: doing so will reassure them that they are involved in a worthwhile exercise.' J. A Sharpe, Social History Society Newsletter

`sustained and coherent analysis of a local community experiencing industrial change ... This detailed narrative of the evolution of a single parish has its own momentum and fascination, and contains important suggestions and ideas.' Times Literary Supplement

`succeeds brilliantly ... a remarkably rich book which is a superb demonstration of how the historical microcosm can inform the historical macrocosm. ... Levine and Wrightson, again through an extremely imaginative use of their source materials, manage an entirely effective reconstruction of the life experience of Whickham's pitmen and their families. ... All social historians should read this book: doing so will reassure them that they are involved in a worthwhile exercise.' J. A. Sharpe, Social History Society Newsletter

`As the authors put it in their preface, this book is an attempt to reconstruct the making of Britain's first industrialized society. It is an attempt which succeeds brilliantly... a rare opportunity to experience two first rate historians working through a formidable range of sources, employing a wide variety of historical techniques and demonstrating their ability to address a fascinating spectrum of historical questions... a remarkably rich book'. Jonathan Barry, Social History Society Newsletter.

`All social historians should read this book: doing so will reassure them that they are involved in a worthwhile exercise'. J.A. Sharpe, Social History Society Newsletter.

`This is an important book: painstakingly researched, finely argued, alive to the dynamic interaction of continuity and change, focusing on the development of a single parish at the centre of Tyneside's mining activity but tuned to the wider context of Whickham's development.... this work is as vital to historians working on the nineteenth century as it is to early modernists...A stark summary of the argument does little to convey the multi-faceted approach of this insightful work, the subtle teasing out of interconnections and the attempt above all to grasp the industrializing process as a human experience. It is a crucial contribution to our understanding of the process of social and economic change.' Linda A. Pollock, Canadian Journal of History

`An outstanding book, one that may become a classic in early modern English social history. Upper-division undergraduates and above.' C.L. Hamilton, Simon Fraser University, Choice, May '92

`their grasp of the economic and technological basis of the nascent coal industry is impressive throughout, as is the subtlety with which they argue their multifaceted thesis on the process of social change. Vigorously researched, this is an engaged, an insightful and a richly-argued book which will repay study by everyone interested in the birth-pangs of the first industrial nation.' Howell A. Lloyd, University of Hull, EHR, Apr. 92

`The teamwork of Wrightson and Levine has produced another important book which adds substantially to our understanding of early modern England. The story of economic and social change is told in fascinating detail ... By concentrating on a single parish only partial answers can be given to certain questions, although a narrow focus does allow historians to examine other issues in astonishing detail. This has been done for Whickham with great success and the authors are to be congratulated on their spendid achievement.' Donald Woodward, Economic History Review May 92

`Dealing with one large parish south-west of Newcastle on the important coalfield of north-east England, Levine and Wrightson have produced a book of great significance ... The book is extremely readable. Quotations are handled with the exquisite precision we should expect from these skilled historical craftsmen as they make Whickham's people come alive' Rab Houston, The Journal of European Economic History Fall 92