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Vera Zamagni charts the remarkable story of European economic growth from the birth of industrialization through to the present day. Setting European events within the wider context of world economic progress and alongside developments in Asia, Eastern Europe and the United States, she provides an up-to-date and authoritative survey suitable for course use.
The book begins with an outline of the economic landscape of the late Middle Ages before exploring the process of European industrialization, including how the British model was replicated across Europe, and why Britain was unable to maintain its position relative to other economies, in particular the United States. The advent of global finance is examined and the economic impact of world war and revolution is assessed. European reconstruction and integration is analysed alongside the decline of Russia and the growth of the Asian economies. The book ends with an assessment of the impact of the global crash of 2008 and the subsequent crisis of the Eurozone. Throughout her analysis, Zamagni shows how the social and economic institutions and values of European civilization catalyzed economic progress. That these same structures are now threatened makes this history particularly timely.
A brilliant textbook. It is excellent at marrying historical narratives and economic history analyses. There is no text on the market that provides such a comprehensive overview.
— Giorgio Riello, University of Warwick
Vera Zamagni is Professor of Economic History at the University of Bologna, and at SAIS Europe, the Johns Hopkins University (Bologna). Her books include The Economic History of Italy, 1860–1990 (1993) and Cooperative Enterprise: Facing the Challenge of Globalization (2011).
1. Advanced agricultural and mercantile civilizations before the modern era
2. From the Italian city-states to the age of discovery
3. Britain: the first European industrial nation
4. The British model: imitation and the role of the state
5. European industrialization
6. British decline and the emergence of the United States and Japan as competitors
7. Technology, business and socio-economic change
8. The international economy, 1870–1914: the gold standard, finance and colonialism
9. The socio-economic consequences of the First World War
10. The Soviet Union, 1917–39
11. The first international crisis
12. The 1930s and the Second World War
13. Postwar reconstruction and decolonization
14. The age of European growth and the return of instability
15. The process of European integration
16. The demise of the USSR and the rise of Asia
17. The second international crisis and the limits of growth
Epilogue