It is the Cotton Industry which best fits the traditional picture of the Industrial Revolution – of an explosion of growth after c.1780 , in which brilliant men made mechanical steam-powered inventions which could only be used in factories, driving out the old hand-working ways and leading to an increase in production which by 1850 had made Britain 'the clothes shop of the world'.
The Cotton Industry, claimed WW Rostow, was: "the original leading sector in the first take-off".

Spreads:

1.   The Textiles Inventions

2.   The Impact of the Textiles Revolution

3.   Foul Factories (traditional account)

4.   Factory Conditions – challenged