Industrial Espionage and Technology Transfer: Britain and France in the 18th Century

by Harris,John R.

• ISBN13: 9780754603672
• ISBN10: 0754603679
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-12-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Britain and France were the leading industrial nations in 18th-century Europe. This book examines the rivalry which existed between the two nations and the methods used by France to obtain the skilled manpower and technology which had given Britain the edge - particularly in the new coal-based technologies. Despite the British Act of 1719 which outlawed industrial espionage and technology transfer, France continued to bring key industrial workers from Britain and to acquire British machinery and production methods.Drawing on a mass of unpublished archival material, this book investigates the nature and application of British laws and the involvement of some major British industrialists in these issues, and discusses the extent to which French espionage had any real success. In the process it presents an in-depth understanding of 18th-century economies, and the cultures and bureaucracies which were so important in shaping economic life. Above all, the late John Harris saw the history of industrial espionage as 'one means of restoring the thoughts and activities of human beings to the centre stage of industrial history'. These are the stories of individuals - Holkers, Trudaines, Wilkinsons, or Milnes - and their impact on the world.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The First Legislation

Causes and Implementation

John Law the suborning of British workers, and Legislation against industrial espionage

After the first legislation: emigration and intelligence

Holkers and Trudaines

John Holker and his patron

Holker, Kay and Badger

Other industrial ventures: textiles and vitriol

The successful 1770s

John Holker II, tours and reports

The difficulties of the 1780s

Metals and Arms

The hardware industry

Steel

The metallurgical traveller

Attacks on the problem of coke iron: jars to Wilkinson

A tale of two navies: copper sheathing

Two Other industries

Steam Power and Glass

The steam engine in France

Newcomen and Watt

Glass

The Transfer of British Textile Technology in the Late Eighteenth Century

The arrival of the water frame and the mule

Further textile espionage and the efforts of the bureau of commerce

French Espionage in Eighteenth-Century Britain

An Appraisal

A case study in espionage: eccentric and engineer - an industrial spy of the 1780s

Laws, actions and attitudes in Britain

The views of great industrialists

Industrial espionage in Britain, France and other nations

The balance of transfer between Britain and France

French industrial espionage in Eighteenth-century Britain and technology transfer: an evaluation

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.