New Era. In 1750 the British Isles and the European continent were on the verge of enormous change. Innovations in farming would increase the food supply; more children would survive childhood; the population would grow dramatically; machines would change where and how people worked; and canals, improved roads, and railroads would move people, food, and manufactured goods with unprecedented speed and ease. Factories would be built; cities would grow; and new economic classes would appear. All of these changes began in England, but they spread to the Continent, and by 1914 the economic development of western Europe was generally uniform. Eastern Europe lagged behind, but it too was industrializing by the eve of World War I (1914- 1918). Of course, change is always easier to see in retrospect than it is in advance, and no one knew in 1750 that the world as they knew it would not last much longer.

Industrialization...