The first industrial region: North-west England, c.1700-60

Introduction: shifting the economic development agenda -- Economic development and the urban system -- Uneven development: geographical specialisation and inter-dependency -- An advanced organic economy: the textile industries -- A mineral-based energy economy: coal-using industries -- The service sector and urban hierarchies -- Spatial integration and the urban system -- Conclusions: the integration of local, regional, national and international economies -- Sources of urban population totals for north-west England in the 1770s -- Probate records as sources of occupational information

Annotation This is a book about the geography of economic growth and the influence which geography had on economic growth during the early phases of industrialisation in England. Its innovative analysis examines the role of the urban system in structuring economic development, showing how the growth of towns served to integrate industries and promote economic change. The central argument is twofold: first, that a proper understanding of the national economy can only be gained through closer regional analyses; and second, that regional integration effected through towns was crucial to national development as it facilitated the spatial and sectoral specialisations which were the key to the wider economic growth in this period