BOOK REVIEW 111 rich and contradictory mix of pre-industrial, proto-industrial and industrialised characteristics, and each had elements of dynamism as well as elements of stability within it. Even during the period of 'maturity' of industrialisation (1790-1914) associated with the so-called revolutions in factory production in coal, iron and steel, substantial de-industrialisation occurred in the twentieth century. The case study of Weald for the period 1600 to 1850 by Brian Short provides a clear example of the failed transition from proto-industrialisation to full industrialisation and also where the place of industry was not taken up by commercial agriculture. Under intense competition from international and national markets. Weald was converted from a prominent producer of glass and iron into a 'withered enclave*. The industrial revolution in the west of England shows marked contrasts of fortune; rapid growth and advance in the West Riding woollen and textile industries, rapid relative decline in the west of England during the eighteenth century. The decline in the west of England has been attributed to its failure to adapt to new technology, differences of product and marketing practices; but Adrian J. Randall stresses workers' resistance to machinery as another important factor in this process. Such, resistance was encountered in both regions, but surprisingly resistance did not prove an obstacle to advance in West Riding. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are believed to have similar economic histories which implies domination from the centre (England) resulting in the relative underdevelopment of the periphery (Celtic regions) and persistence of its cultural distinctiveness. Neil Evans points out the analogy is not true because the lack of diversification in South Wales is the product of a particular pattern of development. Persistent local capital shortages and dependence on 'imports' of capital were the key features which the iron industry failed to overcome because of its vertically integrated structure. Coal mining became dominant when key innovations had already been made elsewhere. The pattern of the north-east's growth was different; its pioneering role in coal production gave it an important place in the development of engineering nd shipbuilding. In 1914, it was much less dependent upon coal than South Wales was. lan D. Whyte discusses specificities governing the process of proto-industrialisation in Scotland. The strong trading monopolies which the ancient royal burghs retained until the late seventeenth century enabled them to exert powerful control over industrial production in their rural hinterlands. The agrarian structure of Lowland Scotland was one of the most important determinants in the distribution and character of rural industrial production, especially its dependence till the late eighteenth century on a class of small holding cottars with only limited access to land who were trying to diversify their activities into industrial work to increase their incomes. Leslie A. Clarkson