The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2

By Joseph Jung

The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the 19th Century tells the improbable story of how a small, backward, mountainous agricultural country with almost no raw materials became an industrial powerhouse, a hub of innovation, a touristic mecca and a pioneer in transportation - all in the course of a single century.

That a tiny landlocked country should become a dominant steamship builder for the rest of the world; that a country that had never seen a cotton plant should become the world's second-largest textile producer; that a country with hardly any level terrain should come to boast the world's most highly developed railway network; and that a country whose main export was impoverished emigrants should be transformed into one of the world's major financial centres - these astonishing developments, among many others, are explored and explained, both through the specific stories of individual innovators and through a prescient analysis of the political, economic, societal and cultural structures that formed the context in which Switzerland's astonishing transformation took place.

The book is a compelling read both for professional historians and for general readers with an interest in Switzerland; it highlights the roles of transport networks and individual pioneers in industrial and political development.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1032152281
• ISBN13: 9781032152288
• Release Date: May 2024
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"