New Lanark, the former cotton spinning village, is known as the pioneer of technological and social change in the Industrial Revolution. This book traces the community's history from its conception as a centre of mass production in 1785 to its present day standing as a World Heritage Site. Beginning with New Lanark's early development under its creator, the banker and textile entrepreneur, David Dale (1739-1806), the text looks at the social conditions of the mainly migrant workforce recruited to the village, and especially at the use of child labour from the cities. Detailing Robert Owen's social and educational experiments at New Lanark (1813-1825), it describes how the community became a showpiece around the world for his "New System" of society. After Owen's departure for New Harmony in Indiana, the book charts the relative decline of the mills under a succession of owners.