Historian Anton Howes discusses how Henry VIII turned Britain into an economic backwater – making it the unlikeliest place for the Industrial Revolution to happen. But, he explains it only took a small cabal of people who understood the problems of the time to turn the fate of the country (and thus, the world) around.

You can learn more about the history of the Industrial Revolution on Anton's Substack, Age of Invention. And you can learn more about progress at Works in Progress.