The Cambridge Urban History of Britain: Volume 2, 1540–1840
The Cambridge Urban History of Britain Series

The second volume of The Cambridge Urban History of Britain examines when, why, and how Britain became the first modern urban nation - the wonder of the Western world. The contributors offer a detailed analysis of the evolution of national and regional urban networks in England, Scotland and Wales, and assess the growth of all the main types of towns - from the rising imperial metropolis of London to the great provincial cities, country and market towns, and the new-style leisure and industrialising towns. They discuss problems of urban mortality and migration, the social organisation of towns, the growth of industry and the service sector, civic governance, and the rise of religious and cultural pluralism. This is the first ever comprehensive study of British towns and cities in the early modern period, the culmination of a generation of research on perhaps the most important social and geographical change in British history.

Preface; Plates; Maps and figures; Tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction Peter Clark. Part I. Area surveys 1540–1840: 1. Introduction Peter Clark; 2. England: 2.1. East Anglia Penelope Corfield; 2.2. South east C. W. Chalklin; 2.3. South west Jonathan Barry; 2.4. Midlands Alan Dyer; 2.5. The north John Walton; 3. Wales Philip Jenkins; 4. Scotland T. M. Devine; Part II. Urban Themes and Types 1540–1700: 5. Towns in an agrarian economy Paul Glennie and Ian Whyte; 6. Population and disease, estrangement and belonging Paul Griffiths, John Landers, Margaret Pelling and Robert Tyson; 7. Politics and government Ian Archer; 8. Reformation and culture Vanessa Harding; 9. The urban landscape Michael Reed; 10. London Jeremy Boulton; 11. Great and good towns Paul Slack; 12. Ports David Harris Sacks and Michael Lynch; 13. Small market towns Alan Dyer; Part III. Urban Themes and Types 1700 to 1840: 14. Urban growth and economic change John Langton; 15. Population and society Pamela Sharpe; 16. Politics and government Joanna Innes and Nicholas Rogers; 17. Culture and leisure Peter Clark and Rab Houston; 18. The transformation of urban space Michael Reed; 19. London Leonard Schwartz; 20. Regional and county centres Joyce Ellis; 21. The ports Gordon Jackson; 22. Small towns Peter Clark; 23. Health and leisure resorts Peter Borsay; 24. Industrialising towns Barrie Trinder; Conclusion Peter Clark; Select bibliography; Index.