'The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution' offers a new explanation of the origins of the industrial revolution in Western Europe by placing development in Europe within a global perspective. It focuses on its specific institutional and demographic development since the late Middle Ages, and on the important role played by human capital formation

Jan Luiten van Zanden (1955) is professor of economic history at Utrecht University and senior researcher at the International Institute of Social History. He has published widely on the economic history of the Netherlands, Western Europe, and Indonesia.