In his classic work on the Industrial Revolution, T.S. Ashton cites a number of convergent factors, in the latter half of the 18th and early 19th centuries, which together were responsible for the British Industrial Revolution. Given this combination, it is clear that no single factor – such as the rise of capitalism – can be considered the cause of the Industrial Revolution. However, as will be demonstrated, the atmosphere in Great Britain at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries was favourable to capital savings and investment; an atmosphere that was essential to the development of the Industrial Revolution