The Path Not Taken ─ French Industrialization in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1830

In The Path Not Taken, Jeff Horn argues that--contrary to standard, Anglocentricaccounts--French industrialization was not a failed imitation of the laissez-faire British model butthe product of a distinctive industrial policy that led, over the long term, to prosperitycomparable to Britain's. Despite the upheavals of the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Francedeveloped and maintained its own industrial strengths. France was then able to take full advantageof the new technologies and industries that emerged in the "second industrial revolution," and bythe end of the nineteenth century some of France's industries were outperforming Britain's handily.The Path Not Taken shows that the foundations of this success were laid during the first industrialrevolution.Horn posits that the French state's early attempt to emulate Britain's style ofindustrial development foundered because of revolutionary politics. The "threat from below" made itimpossible for the state or entrepreneurs to control and exploit laborers in the British manner. TheFrench used different means to manage labor unruliness and encourage innovation andentrepreneurialism. Technology is at the heart of Horn's analysis, and he shows that France, unlikeEngland, often preferred still-profitable older methods of production in order to maintainemployment and forestall revolution. Horn examines the institutional framework established byNapoleon's most important Minister of the Interior, Jean-Antoine Chaptal. He focuses on textiles,chemicals, and steel, looks at how these new institutions created a new industrial environment.Horn's illuminating comparison of French and British industrialization should stir debate amonghistorians, economists, and political scientists.