My role: Fixer
Presented by Professor Jeremy Black
BBC4 (UK)
Professor Jeremy Black presents this documentary which attempts to explain why the Industrial Revolution happened in Britain, rather than France, Germany or even the United States. Professor Black discusses the reasons behind this transformation; from Britain’s coal reserves, which gave it a seemingly inexhaustible source of power, to the ascendency of political liberalism, with engineers and industrialists able to meet and share ideas and inventions. He explains the influence that geniuses like Josiah Wedgewood had on the consumer revolution and travels to Antigua to examine the impact Britain’s empire had on this extraordinary period of growth.
