Political Economy and Fiction in the Early Works of Harriet Martineau

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This book examines the early work of Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), writer, journalist and woman of letters. She became famous in the 1830s with her Illustrations of Political Economy, a series of 25 short novels popularizing the basic principles of Political Economy. Also discussed are her two shorter series of tales from that period, Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated and Illustrations of Taxation. With these works Martineau took part in an intense debate about the role of economic theory in English society. Drawing on such authorities as Adam Smith Martineau offered her readers the possibility of understanding the impact of the Industrial Revolution and its concomitant changes.