Economic Growth in Britain and France 1780-1914 (Routledge Revivals)

Download or read book Economic Growth in Britain and France 1780-1914 (Routledge Revivals) written by Patrick O'Brien and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1978, Professor O’Brien’s Economic Growth in Britain and France 1780-1914 is an original and pioneering exercise in comparative and quantitative economic history. It finds a controversial place in the debate on the question of French retardation in the 19th century and as a brave and important contribution towards the understanding of economic growth in Western Europe. The author attempts to comprehend and evaluate the economic performance of France through explicit comparisons with Britain, while considering British economic history from a French perspective. Challenging the orthodox view that France lagged behind Britain in economic terms, the book argues that there were two paths of economic growth to the 20th century, with France’s path seen as a more humane and no less efficient transition to industrial society.