Myth of the Month 26: The Industrial Revolution -- pt. 1: Conceiving a Catastrophe

About this episode

This episode explores the origins and misconceptions surrounding the concept of the Industrial Revolution.

Dictionaries, textbooks, and encyclopedias routinely write in grave and solemn tones about the “industrial revolution” that reportedly “transformed” society, first in Britain and then in the rest of the globe, giving painful birth to the modern world. Everything from mystical poems to demographic statistics have been martialed to support the idea of a catastrophic upheaval which disrupted what had been the agrarian, medieval life of the countryside. However, nobody can quite agree on exactly when this revolution took place, and the people supposedly living in the midst of it, in Britain in the 1700s and early 1800s, never noticed that it was happening. In this first lecture, we trace the origins of the concept of the “industrial revolution” in political debates in Restoration-era France and in the philosophical ferment of the German radical press—all before the concept finally made its way back into the country where the great upheaval allegedly took place. Please sign up as a patron to hear the next lecture, part 2 on the Industrial Revolution, "Spinning the National Yarn," and all patron-only lectures: https://www.patreon.com/posts/myth-of-month-26-159215235 Alternatively…

People in this episode

Host: Samuel Biagetti, PhD

Topics covered

• Industrial Revolution
• historical analysis
• political debates
• philosophical concepts
• agrarian society
• modern world

Keywords

• Industrial Revolution
• agrarian life
• historical misconceptions
• political debates
• philosophy
• demographic statistics

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Myth of the Month 26: The Industrial Revolution -- pt. 1: Conceiving a Catastrophe, Myth, History, and the Industrial Revolution

Places: Britain, Restoration-era France, Germany

More episodes of Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong

• Unlocked: Italy: Nation-Building Struggles & the Entry Into World War I, 1861-1915 · June 9, 2026 · 1h 55m
• Excerpt: Myth of the Month 26: The Industrial Revolution -- pt. 2: Spinning the National Yarn · May 26, 2026 · 13 min
• Virginia, pt. 2 -- A Dominion on Fire, 1646-1685 · April 28, 2026 · 1h 47m
• Excerpt: Virginia, pt. 1 -- The Successful Failure, 1607-1646 · April 17, 2026 · 11 min
• Unlocked: History of United States in 100 Objects -- Beaver Fur Hat, 1590-1670 · April 11, 2026 · 51 min
• The Elizabethan Dream: How England Became a Sea Power · March 20, 2026 · 2h 7m