Fascinating and original scientific and social investigation of the origins of capitalism in Britain, using a new evolutionary sociology theory and political systems comparison (including France and Holland), with scholarly reviews of alternative theories. Explores significance of Britain's odd land-tenure and inheritance system and asks where it came from, finding answers to questions preoccupying legal and economic theoreticians since the 13th century, with a demonstration of inheritance law in Hamlet. A specialist in geopolitics and energy resources, the author weighs up the roles of different fuels and technology and the availability of labour in the British industrial revolution. Many factors impinging on Britain's unusual population growth are reviewed, including diseases, transport and fertility opportunities. Alongside economic history this complex but sparkling work chronicles changes to the environment, from climate and sea-level changes to forest cover.