The economic history of Italy, 1860-1990

The Economic History of Italy 1860-1990 gives a scholarly and authoritative account of Italy's progress from a rural economy to an industrialized nation. This book provides an interpretative account of the economic history of Italy since the unification of 1861 and offers an extensive resource of quantitative data, based on original field work by the author and the many detailed but small scale studies existing in Italian. Professor Zamagni has made a broad division of the period into three parts: the take-off (1860-1913), the consolidation in the midst of two wars and world depression (1914-47), and the great expansion (1948-90). She has produced a wide-ranging account of agriculture, trade, banking, public intervention, standard of living, and education. Professor Zamagni traces the growth of industrialization, and argues that despite several advanced areas Italy only became an industrialized nation after the Second World War, with the South still being clearly behind the rest of the country. Professor Zamagni makes use both of a macroeconomic approach, in looking at the growth of income, investment, trade, consumption and the role of the State, and of a microeconomic approach, when she draws conclusions from the history of individual banks and corporations. She reveals that even though the population more than doubled during this period the level of national income rose nineteen-fold, to move Italy from a peripheral status in Europe to a central position as a prosperous country. This was achieved through a remarkable flexibility in adapting to new technology and new institutions. The Economic History of Italy 1860-1990 is a much-needed book by a highly regarded author, which will be invaluable for those interested in economic history, in the Italian economic experience, or in the comparative economies and histories of the countries of Europe.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.