The local origins of modern society : Gloucestershire 1500-1800 /

Rollison (Univ. of Western Sydney, Macarthur) examines the transition from agrarian to industrial society in early modern Gloucestershire, where developments in the rural clothmaking industry ("country capitalism") led to the formation of modern socioeconomic relationships. "Manufacturing," accordingly, originated not in urban areas but in the countryside. Case studies reveal changes in cultural identities as the region was transformed from a landed society to one of commercial calculation. Although it overrates the reliability of contemporary polemic, Rollison's integrative, interdisciplinary approach usefully challenges the virtual antiquarianism of some county studies. Themes include industrial "intensification," emerging middle "ranks," and a widening gulf between cultures of acquisitiveness and poverty. Assumptions regarding the relationship between religion and economic activity are tenuous, and there is no formal conclusion, but Rollison writes clearly, uses statistics judiciously, and makes the most of some rather controversial schematic categories. Complements David Levine and Keith Wrightson's The Making of an Industrial Society: Whickham, 1560-1765 (CH, May'92). Advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. M. C. Noonkester; William Carey College