The present essay, which explain the main causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution, was written a hundred years ago by A. Toynbee.

Toynbee’s purpose is to prove that "free competition may produce wealth without producing well-being". To support his thesis, the writer organized his essay into 10 paragraphs and in each one are reported examples and argumentations.

The second paragraph, first of all explain what is the Industrial Revolution: it is a process which brought many changes in eighteenth century England and later in the rest of the world. The essence of it is the substitution of competitions for the medieval regulation which had controlled the production and distribution of wealth. Competition is based on laws of free marketing.

In this period developed two systems of thought: Economic Science and Socialism. Economic science is characterized by four landmarks which describes the development of this thought. The first one is Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” which analyzes the causes of wealth on a national scale. The second one is by Malthus’ “Essay on Population”, which concentrated itself on the causes of poverty: growth of population and wealth not well distributed. The third is wrote by Ricardo and he shows how wealth is distributed under a system of freedom. The last one is John Stuart Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy” in which underlines the difference between the laws of production and those of distribution. Besides analyzes how wealth ought to be distributed.

Going on with the essay Toynbee drowns the attention on the main causes of the Industrial Revolution: growth of population and agrarian revolution. The main three causes of agrarian revolution are: the enclosure of common and waste lands, the destruction of common field system of cultivation and the consolidation of small farms into large. How consequence of it, there was a noticeable decrease in the rural population. Agricultural advances of that time caused more scientific approach which includes the breed of cattle, rotation of crops. The steam plough was invented and introduced in cultivation. Other machineries were invented and introduced in manufacturing industries. We remind spinning jenny, self acting mule, steam engine, cotton mill, power loom. So manufacturing industry as agrarian revolution, underwent radical changes which brought labourers to move into towns. (Here they found an occupation into mine).

The eighth paragraph analyses the growth of the factory system from a different point of view: the advance in the means of communication. The writer analyzes the growth of three means of communication: canal system, roads and railroads; and later the consequences of this growth on commerce.

In the last lines exposes the difference between the domestic and the factory system of production.

The revolution includes the distribution of wealth. There was a rise in rents caused by the effect of the enclosure system, money invested in improvements, the consolidation of farms and the high price of corn.

In the last paragraph, A. Toynbee reinforces his thesis and says that all those revolution brought many changes in country life and manufacturing world for example farmers became a distinct class. There was a evident difference between rich classes and misery one, which poverty was due to the conditions of labour, the rise of price and the fluctuations of trade. So a “cash nexus” was substituted for the human tie and trade Unions began.

In conclusion Toynbee prove that “free competition may produce wealth without producing well being”.