Ronald Max Hartwell (1921-2009) was an influential historian of the British Industrial Revolution and Professor of Economic History.
Hartwell's first academic appointment was at University of New South Wales (1950-56). This was followed by a readership in Recent Economic and Social History at the University of Oxford, and then as a Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford, 1956-77 (Emeritus 1977). He served as the editor of the Economic History Review from 1960 through 1968.
His article "The Rising Standard of Living in England, 1800-1850" in the Economic History Review generated a great deal of controversy. Hartwell's view that industrialisation had immeasurably improved the lot of the poor was in contrast to the prevailing opinion, notably that of Eric Hobsbawn, that stressed the damaging economic effects industrialization on the poor[1].
He was a member, and for two years President (1992-1994), of the Mont Pelerin Society. [2]