EDIT: thanks all! Got a TON of great replies and book recs
So, #history question: I was taught that industrialization/urbanization, the move from farming communities into cities, happened because it provided a higher standard of living, no more starvation etc.
I'm pretty sure that was bullshit, given everything else I've read about the life of say, bakers in cities (and those who relied on their literal singular Daily Bread). Or how many holidays a Christian peasant apparently got.
How did that actually go down? Was urbanization better at first and only got so bad after? Was it because they were coming out of like, the black death or something? Just times were changing?
