"That Opened Up a Whole New Way of Looking at the Industrial Revolution"

"Satia couldn't understand the apparent contradiction between Quaker tenets and the gun-making Galtons, who strived in the industry for decades without incurring the church's disapproval. When the church did object at the local level in Birmingham, in 1795, Galton argued that two were compatible, that living at the heart of manufacturing made his involvement with the violence of war unavoidable. Galton's arguments wouldn't prove strong enough for the church; eventually he was disowned by the religious group. As Satia dug deeper into Galton's history, her book became a much larger story of how warfare and firearm production was a hidden force in the Industrial Revolution, reshaping the British economy, the Empire, and the world."

Lorraine Boissoneault at Smithsonian interviews Priya Satia about Satia's new book, Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution.