Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution

Maxine Berg is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Warwick.Pat Hudson is Professor Emeritus of Economic History at Cardiff University.

"In this impeccably wresearched piece of scholarship, Berg and Hudson provide a comprehensive account of how slavery shaped British industrialisation. Building on the pioneering insights of Eric Williams, the authors forensically demonstrate the dynamic role of the slave economy across a wide range of sectors of economic, social and cultural activity in Britain. Written in a lucid and accessible style, this landmark study makes a powerful contribution to our understanding of the global history of slavery, and lays an ideal foundation for developing a mature public conversation about slavery in contemporary Britain."Sudhir Hazareesingh, University of Oxford, and author of Black Spartacus: the Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture"Inspired by recent debates, Berg and Hudson--eminent historians of British industrialisation--address its ignominious connections to slavery. They bring to that crucial and challenging task a wealth of historical knowledge, an intellectual boldness and subtlety, as well as the humility to learn from other scholars. The book that results encourages us to reflect on the manifold and complex ways in which the enslavement and exploitation of millions of human beings shaped the historical trajectories and legacies of British capitalism."Mary O’Sullivan, University of Geneva"The past four decades have seen a revolution in our understanding of the take-off to economic growth. Modern scholarship increasingly rejects simplistic accounts based on the experiences of countries viewed in isolation; instead, it emphasises international linkages of many kinds, including slavery. In this volume, two of the leading historians of the Industrial Revolution provide an authoritative, accessible and indispensable account of the role played by slavery in that momentous transformation."Kevin O’Rourke, New York University, Abu Dhabi"One of the most important political economy books published this century. Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson's wake-up call for greater awareness of slavery's role in Britain's economic pre-eminence is backed by their expert detective work uncovering the sheer size and reach of the tentacles of the slave trade in the British economy since the 17th century. Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution should be essential reading in order to understand the real cost and legacy of slavery and empire."Colin Thain, University of Birmingham"They mine an extraordinary range of numbers and blend them with contemporary testimony, marshalling all the evidence to reach one emphatic conclusion—that slavery’s role in the story of how Britain got rich was, almost literally, incalculable."Prospect“a fantastic synthesis work by two renowned historians”Northern History

• IntroductionChapter 1: Slavery and the British economy: how the slave and plantation trades worked and how they changedChapter 2: Slavery and the British industrial revolution: misleading measuresChapter 3: A revolution in consumption: sugar and other plantation productsChapter 4: Plantation innovation and Atlantic scienceChapter 5: British ‘slave ports’ and their hinterlands: structural and regional transformationChapter 6: Iron and copper revolutions: metals, hardware and miningChapter 7: Textile revolutionsChapter 8: Financial capitalismChapter 9: Slavery after slavery: legacies of race and inequalityChapter 10: Slavery, capitalism and the economic history of Britain