This book is an absolute fascinating exploration of the history of the cotton industry. It includes archival information and is written in an accessible manner meaning it'll be an interesting read for anyone interested in history, technology, human stories, and/or sewing and textiles.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't managed to finish this book but I have read enough to give a review. Detailing all aspects of the cotton industry, this is a well written and easy to read history of Cotton. From those who were indentured to work the cotton plantations and encompassing ship owners, factory owners and their workers- this makes for sometimes heartbreaking reading and Burton faithfully reports with warts and all. The terrible treatment of slaves, the wickedness of some plantation owners and the fortunes made by factory owners, merchants and ship owners all make for fascinating reading. An excellent book highly recommended. Thanks as always to Pen & Sword and Netgalley for an ARC of A History of the Cotton Industry.

A History of the Cotton Industry is a well written and layman accessible monograph on the cotton industry from ancient times. Originally published in 1984 to coincide with the documentary TV production of "The Rise and Fall of King Cotton", this reformat and re-release due out 6th Feb 2024 from Pen & Sword is 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a very well researched and annotated volume. The author provides an unvarnished history and overview of the culture surrounding the agriculture and manufacture of cotton. It makes for often brutal reading; from the closely allied trade in human slaves, the politics and corruption of great power and profit (at the cost of human life), and the eventual decline and collapse of the social structures which grew and flourished over centuries.

Readers should be aware that in this second edition, the author has made a conscious decision -not- to remove the 6 historical quotes in the text which use the "n-word". It's shocking and distressing to see it printed in black and white each time it appears, but it's very important in context and the author made the right (albeit presumably difficult) decision to leave the quotes intact. There's also a fair bit of historical material which reflects a breathtaking amount of imperialist/sexist/racist/misogynist world view, which again, is appropriate and important in context to understand the unquestioned historical prevalence.

The language is layman accessible. It's well annotated throughout and the author/publisher have included numerous archival photos and facsimiles of historical documents which add a lot of depth and interest to the read.

Five stars. Well written and very thought provoking reading.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book explores how the cotton industry, originating in India, sparked the industrial revolution. It chronicles the shift from handcrafting to mechanized factory production in Britain. This transition changed workers' lives as jobs moved from homes to mills, often employing children. The book also reveals harsh conditions on American cotton plantations reliant on slave labor. Contrasting the once-booming British mills to India's now-thriving industry, it focuses on the human stories of industrialists, laborers, and slaves on all sides of the cotton trade.

This is an engrossing, easy-to-read, and often heart-wrenching narrative. The information is enlightening for anyone with an interest in the Industrial Revolution.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Cotton has been cultivated and used by humans for thousands of years,dating back to ancient civilizations in India, Egypt, and Peru.Cotton's prominence in Europe came about as a result of the cultural transformation of Europe and Britain's trading empire.By the 18th century, the middle class placed emphasis on cleanliness and fashion, demanding easily washable and colourful fabric.In order to compete with India, Britain invested in labour-saving technical progress, while implementing protectionist policies such as bans and tariffs to restrict Indian imports.Simultaneously, the East India Company established a new market for British goods, while the capital amassed from its rule was invested into British industries such as textile manufacturing and greatly increased British wealth.British colonisation also forced open the large Indian market to British goods, which could be sold in India without tariffs or duties, compared to local Indian producers, while raw cotton was imported from India without tariffs to British factories which manufactured textiles from Indian cotton.Cotton's versatility allowed it to be combined with linen and be made into velvet.It was cheaper than silk and could be imprinted more easily than wool.It became the standard fashion and, because of its price, was accessible to the general public.New inventions in the 1770s—such as the spinning jenny, the water frame, and the spinning mule—made the British Midlands into a very profitable manufacturing centre.Meanwhile,Anglo-French warfare restricted access to continental Europe,causing the US to become an important—and temporarily the largest—consumer for British cotton goods.The increasing British demand; innovations in spinning, weaving,and steam power;inexpensive land;and slave labour contributed to cotton's growth in the US,in particular the South.Cultivation of cotton using enslaved Africans and their descendants brought huge profits to the owners of large plantations, making them affluent before the Civil War.In the second half of the 20th century,a downturn in the European cotton industry led to a resurgence of the Indian cotton industry.

Ever look at a piece of clothing and think, how did this go from a plant to my closet?

It's a major process and probably most have no idea how it all works. Well, there's a book about that.

The book covers three hundred years and three continents as well as the technology, the labor forces, and the business of cotton industry. How this plant moved people from their home seamstress businesses into factories with machines that made clothing far faster.

The industry also pushed cities to change their structures and the way people traded/purchased goods, but there are many human stories within the pages of this book. Ones that are important to read.

A lot of research went into this book and I learned that there's far more to my cotton shirt than I realized.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a re-issue of one of the best comprehensive books on the cotton industry. Cotton weaving was one of Britain's main industries at the start of the industrial revolution and this book looks at our part in that industry from a global perspective. What happened here in the UK was hugely impacted by what happened right across the globe. This book is well written, going into detail, but never getting bogged down and dragging. It is easily accessible, but also historically detailed. It would be of interest all levels of knowledge.

Great book for study of the Cotton Industry, spanning from the importation from India to England, then to the United States. In depth information of the industrialization of the first Cotton Mills in Britian, the workers and child labor use to meet demand. The living conditions amoung worker were deplorable.The United States took the lead in growing cotton and used slave trade to excel in the trade. Documentation of first hand accounts of life of the industrialist, mill workers, plantation owners and slaves provides great insight of the technology trade as it evolved.

This is a classist, elitist, racist, and misogynist text when it was first published, and it remains so. Didn't the editors read it before reprinting it? I mean, just in the first pages there's a terrible and not well-considered defense of using the n-word, followed by the idea that cottage industry piece workers had luxurious lives because they could just work whenever they felt like it or needed the money. Amazing. Can I give it 0 stars, pelase?