Brits Who Shaped America

After the Revolutionary War, the fledgling United States was a land of promise. It was ripe for development, yet in need of the industrial and intellectual capital to thrive. So, how did America turn itself from a largely agrarian society into the sophisticated, industrial and military colossus it became in the twentieth century?

In Brits Who Shaped America, PJ Coe illuminates the part played by influential Britons in this astonishing transformation, from the eve to the sunset of the nineteenth century.

They include Samuel Slater, Father of America's Industrial Revolution; Andrew Carnegie driving the steel industry to unprecedented heights; Florence Nightingale's transformational impact on nursing standards and education; and Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde's cultural commentaries.

Some came seeking opportunity, others were driven by ideology or circumstance. Whether they set foot on American soil and stayed, came on tour, or cast their spell from afar, these Britons were architects of America's future.