M.J. Lewis – författare

Manchester and the Age of the Factory (originally published in 1988 and now with a new preface by the authors) focuses on Manchester, the world’s first industrial city, and its transformation into ‘Cottonopolis.’ The book explores the contribution of the factory and the firm to the business structure and political economy of ‘Cottonopolis’. The factory is not examined in isolation but in terms of its relation to a range of economic components. A major, and indeed, new emphasis of the work is centred on the relationship between factory and warehouse. These two components are identified as symbolic of two different systems of production, whose political economy at the nodal point of the Industrial Revolution was associated with a struggle over the merits of the mechanised factory as opposed to the manufacturing putting-out system.

To investigate the interdependence of economic components, the authors reconstruct Manchester’s business structure for the years 1815 and 1825. The first reconstruction allows for the examination of the city’s variegated business structure at a point midway through the classic Industrial Revolution and the ramifications of the empirical findings provide a focus of discussion in the subsequent chapters. The second reconstruction provides a comparative basis for exploring shifting business trends, identifying conflicting business interests and assessing the direct and indirect impact of the factory on the pattern of business development.

For instance, the evolving business relationship between the factory and warehouse after 1815 played a pivotal role in shaping a new political economy, examined at both local and national levels. This transformation prompted cotton firms to develop distinctive business strategies focused on managing the factory’s human and physical resources.

Using Computers in History is designed to introduce students to historical computing through practical workshop exercises. With topics such as the pattern of nineteenth century emigration from the UK, the performance of the American and German economies in the 1930s and the Lancashire cotton industry, Lloyd-Jones and Lewis explain and illustrate the possible uses of the computer for the historian.Using Computers in History:* raises awareness of the use of computers as an important tool for the historian* provides a practical introduction to basic computer terminology* includes high quality diagrams of the screen displays which should appear at each stage* examines the use of spreadsheets and how to design and work with them* discusses the different software packages available, concentrating on Microsoft Excel 4* includes spreadsheet exercises based around a range of historical data sets* explores the use of databases* shows how to construct them* gives guidelines for further study* prompts students to apply the skills they have learnt to a number of examples

Using Computers in History is designed to introduce students to historical computing through practical workshop exercises. With topics such as the pattern of nineteenth century emigration from the UK, the performance of the American and German economies in the 1930s and the Lancashire cotton industry, Lloyd-Jones and Lewis explain and illustrate the possible uses of the computer for the historian.Using Computers in History:* raises awareness of the use of computers as an important tool for the historian* provides a practical introduction to basic computer terminology* includes high quality diagrams of the screen displays which should appear at each stage* examines the use of spreadsheets and how to design and work with them* discusses the different software packages available, concentrating on Microsoft Excel 4* includes spreadsheet exercises based around a range of historical data sets* explores the use of databases* shows how to construct them* gives guidelines for further study* prompts students to apply the skills they have learnt to a number of examples