'The Industrial Revolution marks the most fundamental transformation in the history of the world recorded in written documents.' 'For a brief period,' writes Eric Hobsbawm, 'it coincided with the history of a single country, Great Britain.' His outstanding history describes and accounts for Britain's rise as the world's first industrial world power, its decline from the temporary dominance of the pioneer, its rather special relationship with the rest of the world (notably the underdeveloped countries), and the effects of all these on the life of the British people.