It is curious that M. Mantoux's excellent book on the
English Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century (revised edition translated by Marjorie Vernon (Jonathan Cape, 16s.) has only. now, after twenty years, found an English translator. However, readers who know no French will have the advantage of obtaining a book that is not only admirably rendered into English, but has also been revised with no little care by the author. M. Mantoux gave a great impetus to the study of economic history in England, and much has been written of late on special aspects of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. We are glad to see that a good deal of the new information has been incorporated in the text. It is well to remember that the first Factory Act of 1802, limiting the working hours of apprentices and appointing inspectors to see that the law was observed, was a private member's Bill promoted by a leading manufacturer, the first Sir Robert Peel, and carried with general assent. Neither the millowners nor the members of the Unreformed Parliament were so callous as it is now the fashion to represent them.
* * * *
Previous page
