Description:
AbstractEighteenth‐century Britain was a heavily networked domain self‐consciously committed to the dissemination of improvement. Clubs and societies of all kinds were deeply invested in this process. They served as nodes in larger networks that crisscrossed the country and reached out to global readers. Town histories frequently pointed to their existence as proof of improvement in itself, but clubs and societies frequently found themselves in internal conflict over their aims and objectives. This special issue investigates networks of improvement as they manifested themselves in a variety of associational forms across the long eighteenth century.