Betting on Lives. The culture of life insurance in England, 1695-1775

Notes:

Scholarly account dealing with the 18th century development of insurance, from a very low level to a national industry, in this focusing almost entirely on life insurance. Deals with both business, technical, social and cultural aspects. Chapters are: 1] 'Life insurance in Europe - origins and legal development'; 2] 'Life insurance in its cultural context'; 3] 'Life insurance in its formative years' with sections including 'earliest societies', 'mortuary tontines', 'life insurance as an improving agent', 'life insurance in the web of credit', 'profit and speculation ...', 'reversionary annuities', 'premium insurance companies'; 4] 'Demographic calculation and the management of investment' with sections re 'use of mortality data', 'calculating mortality', 'managing demographic investment', 'Assheton's annuity scheme', 'Church of Scotland scheme'; 5] 'Social composition of the life insurance market' - drawing on an electronic database of data from 9,500 life policies'; 6] 'Epilogue. Life insurance, science and the construction of capitalism'. Has some coverage of Amicable Society for a Perpetual Assurance Office, London Assurance Corp, Society for Assurance for Widows & Orphan