Population Welfare and Economic Change in Britain 1290-1834

The book's overarching concern is with the economic and demographic decision-making of individuals and groups and the extent to which these were constrained by institutions and resources and its particular focus is on population growth: its causes and the welfare challenges it posed. A distinctive feature of this book is its comparative perspective. By making systematic comparisons between economic and demographic developments in pre-industrial Britain and those taking place in various regions of contemporary Continental Europe and Russia several chapters uncover how far Britain in this period was 'different'.