This book is based on my D. Phil, thesis which was presented at Oxford in 1986. I am very grateful to my supervisor Peter Mathias (now Master of Downing College, Cambridge), whose interest and astute comments helped me immeasurably, as also did his writings, which made a number of important issues clear to me during the research. I would also especially like to thank Francis Sejersted, who supervised the work while I was researching in Norway, and my examiners, Patrick O'Brien and John Harris, particularly for very helpful advice on revising the study for publication as a book.

In studying the transfer of textile technologies from Britain to Norway in the mid nineteenth century this work has relied heavily on business records of Norwegian textile firms. I owe a considerable debt, therefore, to those who assisted me in locating and understanding these records, in particular Merete Skogheim of the Norwegian Technical Museum, Oslo, Odd Halvorsen of the Halden Historical Collection, Arne Slivenes of the Bergen City Archive, and Christopher Harris, who drew my attention to the Wallem archives in Bergen University Library. I am grateful also for the encouragement and help, especially early in my research, given by Kari Hoel, and by Even Lange of the Business History Centre, Oslo. From the firms themselves, I would like to thank J. W. Fenton, former director of the Arne Fabrikker, Bergen; the staff and directors of A/S Solberg Spinderi; and the staff and directors of the Nydalens Compagnie.