Description

Revolution, war, machine breaking, assassination and abduction; how one wronged inventor and his family navigated the tumultuous change and challenges of the industrial revolution. The Life and Times of Samuel Crompton looks at this period of history in terms of the people that played their part in it.

Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule which heralded the factory system, allowing Britain to grow as an industrial power. His life became a fight for recognition. How could a principled man deal with a duplicitous and calculating world and gain a just reward for his invention?

The reader is taken on a journey from the early days of mercantile trade to beginnings of industrial change, then through Georgian England and beyond with insights into the nature of business partnerships and the struggles of working people, Myths, legends and events are interwoven to create the feel and spirit of the times. Cotton and Samuel Crompton’s invention are brought back into the foreground of our understanding of industrial and social change. All of this is based on detailed research using a unique archive, the Crompton Papers.

This biography is different because it has the exploration of human behaviour at its heart.