{"product_id":"apostles-of-inequality-jim-handy-9781487563530","title":"Apostles of Inequality: Rural Poverty, Political Economy, and the Economist, 1760-1860","description":"\u003cp\u003eBetween 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing from a wide range of contemporary sources, \u003ci\u003eApostles of Inequality\u003c\/i\u003e 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 for the efficiency of smallholder, peasant agriculture. He traces the development of both economic theory and government policy through the work of agricultural improver Arthur Young (1741-1820), government advisor Nassau William Senior (1790-1864), and the editors and writers of the \u003ci\u003e Economist\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as Adam Smith and Thomas Robert Malthus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eApostles of Inequality\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates how a fascination with capital - promoted by political economy and farmers' desires to have a labour force completely dependent on wage labour - fostered widespread destitution in rural England for over a century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jim Handy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1487563531\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781487563530\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Toronto Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/01\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 302\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.06h x 5.98w x 1.02d","brand":"Jim Handy","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44066026291455,"sku":"9781487563530","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1bb609d5-873f-4dca-81cd-12c85922ec81.jpg?v=1685404911","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/apostles-of-inequality-jim-handy-9781487563530","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}