The Industrial Revolution has been developed especially for senior secondary students of History and is part of the Nelson Modern History series. Each book in the series is based on the understanding that History is an interpretive study of the past by which students also come to better appreciate the making of the modern world. Developing understandings of the past and present in senior History extends on the skills learnt in earlier years. Senior students will use historical skills, including research, evaluation, synthesis, analysis and communication. Students will rely on their knowledge of the historical concepts such as evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, significance, empathy, perspectives and contestability, to understand and interpret societies from the past. The activities and tasks have been written to ensure that students develop the skills and attributes required for senior History subjects. This student book examines the preconditions to the industrial revolution in Britain and the roles played by individuals and groups in transforming a small island kingdom to economic global power in little more than a century. In addition to considering rapid technology changes this work also examines the social, economic and political consequences of the transformation and explores the ways in which the second industrial revolution laid the foundations of the modern world.