This is a study of the development of the early history of Barcelona's cotton industry. It offers both a specialized industrial history and an interpretation of major issues relating to the industrialization of Catalonia and of Europe as a whole. The major issues discussed--the causes of the increase during these years in industrial investment and the links between "proto-industrialization" and industrialization proper--have been discussed theoretically but rarely tested against historical experience. The book thus represents an important contribution to the interpretation of early industrialization and offers a new insight into Spanish and Catalonian history.