Industrialisation in Britain and France, 1750-1870
Trinity Term, 2025
Lecturer and tutor
Dr. Brian A'Hearn, Pembroke College
e-mail: brian.ahearn@pmb.ox.ac.uk
phone: 276 435
Overview
Industrialisation in Britain and France 1750-1870 is a first-year optional history subject. The course is intended as a sort of bridge paper between the disciplines of history and economics for "Heco" students. It offers an introduction to both the substance and the methods of economic history, in the context of what might be considered the field's founding question: what were the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution? Students will work with both literary sources and quantitative data, apply theoretical frameworks (some introduced in the Approaches to History lectures on economics), and develop a feel for comparative history.
During covid I recorded videos of my lectures. These may be available via links on the course webpage for 2020, here.
Readings
General background and reference readings are
here.
Links to readings for particular lectures and tutorial essays are found below.
Lectures
| Week 1: A quantitative portrait | notes1 | readings | |
| notes2 | |||
| Week 2: Property rights and agriculture | notes | readings | |
| Week 3: The British state | notes | readings | |
| Week 4: The French state under the ancien régime | notes | readings | |
| Week 5: Technical progress | notes | readings | |
| Week 6: Demand - the internal market | notes | readings | |
| Week 7: French revolutions | notes | readings | /tr>
Tutorials
I see the lectures and tutorials as complements not substitutes, so although some topics
are covered in both, others are discussed only in one or the other. The links below suggest
some essay titles and associated readings. There is a certain logic to their order, but it's
not necessary to adhere to it. You may write on any topic - including topics of your own
choice - in any week, provided you check with your tutor first. Essays must not exceed
2,000 words and should include full bibliographic information on (and appropriate references to)
your sources. You should submit your essay at lunchtime on the day before
your tutorial, unless prior arrangement has been made. I encourage you to share your essays
with your tutorial partners as well. You should be prepared to present the main
argument and evidence of your essay in about ten minutes at the start of the the tutorial.
Classes
In classes you will present primary source readings from the course list of set texts.
We will need two presenters each week, who can volunteer or will be selected randomly.
The links below will take you to some recent student presentations.
| Week 2 | Young, Cliffe Leslie, Reach | de la Rochefoucauld, Colman |
| Week 3 | Malthus | Faucher, Birkbeck |
| Week 4 | Chaumont, Nickolls | |
| Week 5 | Baines | Marshall, Great Exhibition |
| Week 6 | Taine, Ledru-Rollin | Symons |