Chapter 1: Introduction. Women’s work in the Netherlands and Java, 1830-1940 -- Chapter 2: An exceptional empire? Dutch colonialism in comparative perspective -- Chapter 3: Industrious women in an imperial economy: The Cultivation System and its consequences -- Chapter 4: Industrialisation,...

"During the late eighteenth century, innovations in Europe triggered the Industrial Revolution and the sustained economic progress that spread across the globe. While much has been made of the details of the Industrial Revolution, what remains a mystery is why it took place at all. Why did this...