The invention of improvement : information and material progress in seventeenth-century England / Prof Paul Slack.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Slack, Paul, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain--History--Stuarts, 1603-1714.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Invention of improvement : information and material progress in 17th century England

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-175775-6

0-19-166753-6

OCLC:

896849673