The rise of market society in England, 1066-1800 / Christiane Eisenberg ; translated by Deborah Cohen.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Focusing on England, this study reconstructs the centuries-long process of commercialization that gave birth to the modern market society. It shows how certain types of markets (e.g. those for real estate, labor, capital, and culture) came into being, and how the social relations mediated by markets were formed. The book deals with the creation of institutions like the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange, and Lloyd's of London, as well as the way the English dealt with the uncertainty and the risks involved in market transactions. Christiane Eisenberg shows that the creation of a market society and modern capitalism in England occurred under circumstances that were utterly different from those on the European continent. In addition, she demonstrates that as a process, the commercialization of business, society, and culture in England did not lead directly to an industrial society, as has previously been suggested, but rather to a service economy.

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CHOICE Review

The thesis of this slim, provocative volume is that the long evolution of market society--rather than an industrial revolution--created modern England by the dawn of the 19th century. Eisenberg (Humboldt Univ., Berlin) finds Marx, Weber, and even more recent theorists "hopelessly out of date," and draws instead on the wealth of empirical studies from the last half century. Some readers may question her view that 1066 provided preconditions and 1215 the signs of a market economy, one that benefited from new credit instruments and a centralized legal system, while serving a broad class of medieval tenant farmers. Early modern proto-industrialization, Eisenberg argues, was less important than England's distinctive agricultural productivity and population growth. These factors led to rapid urbanization and even more people, especially Londoners, who were dependent on markets. Meanwhile, institutions like Lloyd's, the stock exchange, and the Bank of England built trust in market transactions. By 1800, the rhythms of English life were often set, as today, by commercialized sports and entertainments. In sum, this monograph, smoothly translated from the German and with a useful bibliography, should attract academic readers from undergraduates to faculty. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries. G. F. Steckley Knox College