Apostles of Inequality - 9781487563530

Apostles of InequalityRural Poverty, Political Economy, and the Economist, 1760-1860\nAuthor(s): Jim Handy\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University of Toronto Press, Canada\nImprint: University of Toronto Press\nISBN-13: 9781487563530, 978-1487563530\nSynopsis\nBetween 1760 and 1860, the English countryside was subject to constant attempts at agricultural improvement. Most often these meant depriving cottagers and rural workers of access to land they could cultivate, despite evidence that they were the most productive farmers in a country constantly short of food.\n\n Drawing from a wide range of contemporary sources, Apostles of Inequality argues that such attempts, driven by a flawed faith in the wonders of capital, did little to increase agricultural productivity and instead led to a century of increasing impoverishment in rural England. Jim Handy rejects the assertions about the benefits that accompanied the transition to \""improved\"" agriculture and details the abundant evidence.