[00:05.24]1998

[00:06.86]Until recently most historians spoke very critically

[00:10.11]of the Industrial Revolution.

[00:12.43]They (1)admitted that in the long run industrialization

[00:15.46]greatly raised the standard of living

[00:17.77]for the (2)average man.

[00:19.39]But they insisted that its (3)immediate results

[00:22.32]during the period from 1750 to 1850

[00:26.15]were widespread poverty and misery

[00:28.77]for the (4)bulk of the English population.

[00:31.38](5)By contrast, they saw in the preceding hundred years

[00:35.33]from 1650 to 1750,

[00:38.05]when England was still a (6)completely agricultural country,

[00:41.41]a period of great abundance and prosperity.

[00:44.98]This view, (7)however, is generally thought to be wrong.

[00:47.90]Specialists (8)in history and economics,

[00:50.62]have (9)shown two things:

[00:52.23]that the period from 1650 to 1750

[00:55.56]was (10)marked by great poverty,

[00:58.02]and that industrialization certainly

[01:00.23]did not worsen and may have actually improved

[01:03.33]the conditions for the majority of the populace.