How did small European economies acquire the technologies and skills needed to industrialize in the nineteenth century? In this important contribution to a long-standing debate, Kristine Bruland looks at the Norwegian experience to show how a technological infrastructure was created, and suggests that much of this was due to the efforts of British machine makers who from the mid 1840s vigorously sought foreign markets. Providing not only basic technical services but also skilled labour to set up and then supervise the operation of the new machinery, British textile engineering firms were able to supply a complete 'package' of services, significantly easing the initial technical problems faced by Norwegian entrepreneurs. Kristine Bruland's case-study of the Norwegian textile industry demonstrates clearly the paradox that Britain's entrepreneurial efforts in the supply of capital goods overseas were largely responsible for the creation of the technical industrial bases of many of her major foreign competitors.

The 400th anniversary of the death of Elizabeth I occasions Anchor's publication of Anne Somerset's magisterial biography, singled out by Lady Antonia Fraser as her "favourite among the biographies of the Queen."
Glitteringly detailed and engagingly written, Elizabeth I brings to vivid life the golden age of sixteenth-century England and the uniquely fascinating monarch who presided over it. A woman of intellect and presence, Elizabeth firmly believed in the divine providence of her sovereignty and exercised supreme authority over the intrigue-laden Tudor court and Elizabethan England at large. Brilliant, mercurial, seductive, and maddening, an inspiration to artists and adventurers and the subject of vicious speculation over her choice not to marry, Elizabeth is immortalized in this splendidly illuminating account.
Unraveling the political complexities of Elizabethan England and Europe, bringing alive the alluring, intrigue-laden Tudor court, Anne Somerset examines the life and times of Elizabeth I, the monarch and the woman. of illustrations.
In this totally captivating, sympathetic biography, English writer Somerset quotes an abundance of primary sources to elucidate Queen Elizabeth I's often criticized actions. For example, she investigates the cunning ruler's "sound enough reasons" for attempting to have her hated royal cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, murdered in an underhand fashion without the bother of an execution. Somerset ( Ladies-in-Waiting) argues that the execution of Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, when she was two and a half cast a dark shadow over the queen's entire life. A virgin monarch, thrilled by the power of her father, Henry VIII, Elizabeth (1533-1603) turned her sex to her advantage in a man's world. She "flaunted her femininity" with chivalrous male colleagues and used her marital availability as a chief asset in the conduct of foreign affairs. The success of her 45-year reign, writes Somerset, was very much a personal triumph aided by her magnetism and charm. A wry, convincing portrait of a complex character. Illustrated. BOMC alternate.
Flattered, feared, idealized during her lifetime, romanticized ever since, the intensely private Elizabeth I left few accurate portraits for future painters or biographers. Somerset (Ladies in Waiting, 1984) wisely focuses on the queen's complex political life, documenting, largely from primary sources, the religious conflicts, wars, explorations, conspiracies, and rough justice that marked her reign of 45 years. The second daughter of Henry VIII (her mother, the second of six wives, was executed for adultery), Elizabeth came to the throne after the displacement of all her stepmothers and the death of her brother Edward and her sister ``Bloody'' Mary. Although she was excommunicated, she believed she was ``God's choice''--and with that confidence created a national church, revised coinage, sponsored exploration (Drake's circumnavigation of the globe), waged war against Spain, nearly subjugated the ``ungovernable'' Ireland, and strengthened the power of the throne. Pleasure-loving Elizabeth enjoyed dancing, bear-baiting, hunting, clothes (which became more bizarre as she aged), gardens, and ``progresses,'' leading the court on visits to noble houses--partly because the hygiene of her courtiers was so poor that an ``intolerable stench'' soon forced them to move on. She loved gifts, adulation, and the attention of young men, although she married none of them, using their admiration and pursuit as a source of power. Somerset claims that remaining a virgin was part of the queen's ``high calling.'' Meanwhile, her indecisiveness, irascible temper, and legitimate fear of being assassinated led to her imprisoning her cousin Mary for 19 years before, reluctantly, having her executed--although at other times she was capable of impulsive brutality, e.g., publicly cutting off the hand of a printer for criticizing one of her choices of a mate. Despite a few clich?s (the ``air'' was ``thick with intrigue'') and an unnecessary defensiveness about Elizabeth's virginity: a clear, moving, informed narrative.
Elizabeth I, a fascinating, complex woman with immense political, social, and religious power, has had many biographers, but Somerset's thoroughly researched and exhaustively documented study will capture the reader's imagination. Somerset brings historical figures to life, providing the background and motivations for their actions in light of the social structure of the day. The reader gains a real understanding of the problems Elizabeth faced in ruling her unstable kingdom. Somerset has also written The Life and Times of Wil liam IV (Biblio Distribution Centre, 1980) and Ladies-in-Waiting ( LJ 6/15/84). Recommended. BOMC alternate.
-Kathar ine Galloway Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Anne Somerset was born in England in 1955 and educated in London, Gloucestershire, and Kent. After studying history at King’s College, London, she worked as a research assistant for various historians. She is the author of The Life and Times of William IV, Ladies-in-Waiting: From the Tudors to the Present Day, Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I, and The Affair of Poisons. She is married and lives in London.
length: (cm)20.7 　　　 　　　　　 　 width:(cm)13.2

During the nineteenth century, the roughest but most important ocean passage in the world lay between Britain and the United States. Bridging the Atlantic Ocean by steamship was a defining, remarkable feat of the era. Over time, Atlantic steamships became the largest, most complex machines yet devised. They created a new transatlantic world of commerce and travel, reconciling former Anglo-American enemies and bringing millions of emigrants who transformed the United States. In Transatlantic , the experience of crossing the Atlantic is re-created in stunning detail from the varied perspectives of first class, steerage, officers, and crew. The dynamic evolution of the Atlantic steamer is traced from Brunel's Great Western of 1838 to Cunard's Mauretania of 1907, the greatest steamship ever built.

Published in a thoroughly revised second edition, Venice and Amsterdam is a comparative history of the elites of these two major cities in early modern Europe.

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Book Description
The Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.
Jude Fawley is a rural stone mason with intellectual aspirations. Frustrated by poverty and the indifference of the academic institutions at the University of Christminster, his only chance of fulfilment seems to lie in his relationship with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead.
From Library Journal
Jude the Obscure created storms of scandal and protest for the author upon its publication. Hardy, disgusted and disappointed, devoted the remainder of his life to poetry and never wrote another novel. Today, the material is far less shocking. Jude Fawley, a poor stone carver with aspirations toward an academic career, is thwarted at every turn and is finally forced to give up his dreams of a university education. He is tricked into an unwise marriage, and when his wife deserts him, he begins a relationship with a free-spirited cousin. With this begins the descent into bleak tragedy as the couple alternately defy and succumb to the pressures of a deeply disapproving society. Hardy's characters have a fascinating ambiguity: they are victimized by a stern moral code, but they are also selfish and weak-willed creatures who bring on much of their own difficulties through their own vacillations and submissions to impulse. The abridgment speeds Jude's fall to considerable dramatic effect, but it also deletes the author's agonizing logic. Instead of the meticulous weaving of Jude's destiny, we get a somewhat incoherent summary that preserves the major plot points but fails to draw us into the tragedy. Michael Pennington reads resonantly and skillfully, his voice perfectly matching the grim music of Hardy's prose, but this recording can only be recommended for larger public libraries.
-John Owen, Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale, CA
From AudioFile
Author Thomas Hardy espoused Shakespeare's dictum (from King Lear): "As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport." He particularly exhibits this pessimism in Jude the Obscure, his tragedy about Jude Fawley, a stonemason torn by ambitions both intellectual and carnal, and Sue Whitehead, an early feminist whom Jude loves and who sometimes loves Jude. A compelling novel is made more so in this audio version by the outstanding work of Frederick Davidson. Always dependable, Davidson here excels in his use of measured dramatics; his consistent differentiation of a large cast of characters from varying social, educational and, therefore, dialectal groups; and his obvious personal involvement in the miseries of the two main characters. T.H.
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1894-95 in Harper's New Monthly as Hearts Insurgent; published in book form in 1895. Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster (Oxford University). Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl who pretends to be pregnant by him, Jude marries her and is then deserted. He earns a living as a stonemason at Christminster; there he falls in love with his independent-minded cousin, Sue Bridehead. Out of a sense of obligation, Sue marries the schoolmaster Phillotson, who has helped her. Unable to bear living with Phillotson, she returns to live with Jude and eventually bears his children out of wedlock. Their poverty and the weight of society's disapproval begin to take a toll on Sue and Jude; the climax occurs when Jude's son by Arabella hangs Sue and Jude's children and himself. In penance, Sue returns to Phillotson and the church. Jude returns to Arabella and eventually dies miserably. The novel's sexual frankness shocked the public, as did Hardy's criticisms of marriage, the university system, and the church. Hardy was so distressed by its reception that he wrote no more fiction, concentrating solely on his poetry.
About Author
Rosellen Brown is the author of Half a Heart, The Autobiography of My Mother, Tender Mercies and Before and After. She lives in Chicago.
Book Dimension :
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Review
In this expostulatory essay on the European and American philosophes of the 18th century, a dean of American historiography contrasts the European profession of the Enlightenment with down-to-earth American accomplishments. English intellectualism, according to Commager, was an aristocratic exercise exemplified by Royal Society director Joseph Banks' belief that science should supersede politics; Americans, of course, believed in plebian democracy, freedom of speech, and the abandonment of Greek and Latin for botany and husbandry: they were euphorically venturing westward while Europe looked toward ancient, stagnant civilizations like China's. True, the Old World had Goethe, Priestley, Kant - but the reality was that "cities are put to the torch, nobles ride heedless over the fields of peasants, the Irish cotters starve to death. . . ." Americans, with "no King, no Court, no aristocracy, no body of laws, no professional army, no Established Church, no history, no tradition, no usable past" created a nationalism from the bottom up. Thomas Jefferson is exalted as the native philosophe embodying this development, while less is made of Franklin's collaboration with his European counterparts. It is easy to challenge Commager's hyperboles about direct democracy in the early Republic and his notion that America lacked tradition; his contrast between European decadence and American practicality is more nuanced but fundamentally adds little to our knowledge of either. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
The foremost American historian of his generation delves into the nation's European origins, illuminating how the new country embodied the principles of the Enlightenment--ideals that Europe, trapped by tradition and privilege, could not itself realize. "...crystalline clarity of...writing [causes] explosions in the reader's mind...history to be pondered and cherished."--The New York Times. "Learning and reason are at the service of a mind whose understanding of democracy gains brilliance and power from a passion for...freedom."--Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

From the bestselling author of "The English" comes "Empire", Jeremy Paxman's history of the British Empire accompanied by a flagship 5-part BBC TV series, for readers of Simon Schama and Andrew Marr. The influence of the British Empire is everywhere, from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything, from Prime Ministers' decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think we're good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; the hopeless losers we will on, and the food we hunger for, the empire is never very far away. In this acute and witty analysis, Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers ('intended to weed out the cad, the feeble and the too clever') the importance of sport, the sweating domestic life of the colonial officer's wife ('the challenge with cooking meat was "to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness and putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable"') and the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum, Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy and comedy of Empire and reveals its profound and lasting effect on our nation and ourselves. "Paxman is witty, incisive, acerbic and opinionated...In short, he carries the whole thing off with panache bordering on effrontery". (Piers Brendon, "Sunday Times"). "Paxman is a magnificent historian, and "Empire" may be remembered as his finest work". ("Independent on Sunday"). Jeremy Paxman was born in Yorkshire and educated at Cambridge. He is an award-winning journalist who spent ten years reporting from overseas, notably for "Panorama". He is the author of five books including "The English". He is the presenter of "Newsnight" and "University Challenge" and has presented BBC documentaries on various subjects including Victorian art and Wilfred Owen.

This book offers a fascinating account of the forerunner of the modern multinational: the British East India Company (1600-1874). Nick Robins shows how the East India Company pioneered the model of the corporation that we see today. Its innovations included the shareholder model of ownership, and the administrative framework of the modern firm. Global in reach, it achieved market dominance in Asia, trailblazing the British Empire in the East. In the process, the company shocked its age with the scale of its executive malpractice, stock market excess and human rights abuse. Offering a popular history of one of the world's most famous companies, Nick Robins shows what it teaches us about corporations today. Ultimately, the East India Company succumbed to popular protest and outright rebellion, first in the Boston Tea Party and then in the Indian Mutiny. For Robins, the Company's legacy shows how essential it is to break-up today's over-mighty corporations, introduce new legal duties on corporate executives and establish effective mechanisms to hold companies to account wherever they operate.

In the 1760s a group of amateur experimenters met and made friends in the English Midlands. Most came from humble families, all lived far from the center of things, but they were young and their optimism was boundless: together they would change the world. Among them were the ambitious toymaker Matthew Boulton and his partner James Watt, of steam-engine fame; the potter Josiah Wedgwood; the larger-than-life Erasmus Darwin, physician, poet, inventor, and theorist of evolution (a forerunner of his grandson Charles). Later came Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen and fighting radical.
With a small band of allies they formed the Lunar Society of Birmingham (so called because it met at each full moon) and kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Blending science, art, and commerce, the Lunar Men built canals; launched balloons; named plants, gases, and minerals; changed the face of England and the china in its drawing rooms; and plotted to revolutionize its soul.
Uglow's vivid, exhilarating account uncovers the friendships, political passions, love affairs, and love of knowledge (and power) that drove these extraordinary men. It echoes to the thud of pistons and the wheeze and snort of engines and brings to life the tradesmen, artisans, and tycoons who shaped and fired the modern age.

Matthew Boulton was an eighteenth-century designer, inventor, and industrialist, a consummate businessman, and co-founder of the influential Lunar Society. Now, on the bicentenary of his death, this book surveys his life and extraordinarily varied achievements. The book explains how Boulton, a Birmingham 'toy'-maker producing buttons, buckles and silverware, went into business with James Watt and exported Boulton & Watt steam engines all over the world.Meanwhile his magnificent ormolu ornaments decorated aristocratic drawing rooms, and his determination to discourage counterfeiters led to a contract to manufacture British coinage and coins of other countries at his mint. Boulton was leader of the campaign to establish the Birmingham Assay Office (still the busiest in the country), and also at the heart of the Lunar Society, a group of prominent industrialists, natural philosophers, and intellectuals interested in scientific and social change. A friend of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood and many others, Boulton was a fascinating man, Britain's leading Enlightenment entrepreneur.

Autobiographical work by George Orwell, published in 1933. Orwell's first published book, it contains essays in which actual events are recounted in a fictionalized form. The book recounts that to atone for the guilt he feels about the conditions under which the disenfranchised and downtrodden peoples of the world exist, Orwell decides to live and work as one of them. Dressed as a beggar, he takes whatever employment might be available to a poverty-stricken outcast of Europe. In Paris he lives in a slum and works as a dishwasher. The essay "How the Poor Die" describes conditions at a charity hospital there. In London's East End, he dresses and lives like his neighbors, who are paupers and the poorest of working-class laborers. Dressed as a tramp, he travels throughout England with hoboes and migrant laborers.