The transformation of British society in the course of the 19th century is a commonplace of historical description. The transition from an industrial but still predominantly agricultural society, with many of its traditional, vertically organized forms of social organization still intact, to a predominantly urban, class divided and recognizably modern society remains one of the striking transformations of social history, the prototype indeed for much of human history in the 20th century. The simultaneous transformation of Britain, from one imperial power among others, to the most powerful imperium in history, is equally important.