W. A. Speck reviews an historical debate central to the interpretation of the eighteenth century in Britain. Few British historians treat the eighteenth century as consisting simply of the hundred years from 1701 to 1800. Until recently political historians tended to end it in 1783. Many textbooks reflect this treatment of what might be termed the ‘short’ eighteenth century. To economic historians the exact dates 1701 to 1800 might make a little more sense. Traditionally, however, most students of the century’s economy noticed differences in the tempo of change towards the end, especially in the industrial sector, which led them to distinguish the closing decades from those preceding them. Thus accounts of the industrial revolution tended to see 1780 as a turning point.