An essential introduction to the effects of industrialisation on British society, from Queen Victoria’s reign to the birth of the welfare state in the 1940s. This book deals with the remarkable social consequences of the industrial revolution, as Britain changed from an agricultural society to an urban society based on industry. As the first nation to undergo an industrial revolution, Britain was also the first to deal with the unprecedented social problems of rapid urbanisation combined with an unparalleled growth in population. Industrialisation and Society looks at contemporary ways in which the government and ordinary people tried to cope with these new pressures, and studies their reactions to the unforseen consequences of the steam revolution. In particular, this indispensable book considers: the Victorian inheritance Mid and late Victorian Social change the challenge form the left industrialisation and the countryside Edwardian England and the Liberal reforms the two world wars and the inter war years the Welfare State.