"This book provides a scholarly but accessible account of British regional development during the twentieth century, focusing on the emergence and development of the 'North-South' divide. Beginning with regional imbalance in the Victorian and Edwardian economies, the book goes on to discuss the effects of the First World War and its aftermath, which created a discernible split between the depressed North and West, and the relatively prosperous South. Attention is also paid to the impact of government policy on regional development during the interwar years and beyond, and factors affecting industrial location in this period."--Jacket.