The Business Community of Seventeenth-Century England

This study explores aspects of the English business community as it developed between 1590 and 1720. Drawing largely on material in private papers, Richard Grassby describes and explains the economic and technical structure of business in a pre-industrial economy and examines the way in which social values, demographic factors, the family, state and religion distributed talent, trained and motivated businessmen and determined their life style. The important conclusion which emerges from his study is that individual initiative and a fluid social structure largely account for differences in response to economic opportunities between England and other pre-industrial societies. His book offers an analysis of why men entered business, how they lived and worked and what they achieved, and should appeal to those who wish to understand the dynamics of pre-industrial growth and the interaction between business and society.

Author: Richard Grassby
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 10/05/1995
Pages: 646
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.30lbs
Size: 9.33h x 6.36w x 1.66d
ISBN: 9780521434508