La HISTORIA ECONOMICA MUNDIAL dirigida por Charles Wilson, de la Universidad de Cambridge, está planeada como un trabajo de equipo, aun cuando cada autor se ha responsabilizado del periodo en que se le reconoce como especialista. Constituye un esfuerzo continuado de síntesis e interpretación de las investigaciones de los expertos en historia socioeconómica. Los volúmenes de esta serie están destinados tanto a los estudiosos y eruditos con formación especializada en historia económica como a los lectores que deseen saber cómo, dónde y por qué la historia económica afecta a otras clases de historia. La mayor parte de la historia económica tradicional se basaba en el estudio de las áreas nacionales: la utilización de regiones más amplias como unidades de análisis crea aún grandes problemas. Pocos investigadores, sin embargo, poseen un conocimiento directo de las lenguas y fuentes europeas comparable al del profesor Kellenbenz, lo que le permite intentar trazar un cuadro complejo y totalizante de la economía de la Europa continental. Este cuadro muestra la existencia de considerables reservas de capacidad industrial y comercial -tradicionales- utilizables en un proceso de industrialización. Pero también muestra que sería ilusorio pensar que en el comienzo de la época moderna la Europa continental se encontraba ya encaminada firmemente a la estabilidad económica; por el contrario, el ciclo alternante de prosperidad y escasez reinaba aún sobre buena parte de Europa, como continuaría haciéndolo hasta tiempos relativamente modernos.

The main purpose of the book is to introduce the work of Alan S. Milward and to acknowledge the full magnitude of his scientific contribution to contemporary British and European history. The book is a collection of essays which provide a better understanding of Alan Milward’s extensive intellectual work for future scholars and facilitate the knowledge and transmission of his published work to present and future generations of students, scholars in the various disciplines concerned, and the general public. The series of original contributions which this book contains are related to or reflect critically upon Milward’s own contributions to the fields of political, diplomatic, and socio-economic history, political science, economics, international relations, and European Studies in general. This book honors Alan Milward through a better understanding of his many pioneering contributions in the fields of contemporary European history in general, and the history of European integration in particular. Although the volume does not aim to be a substitute for Milward’s work itself, it illuminates and assesses his creative process along fifty years of continued and intense work, as well as the impact of his main work, and the continuing relevance of his main theses today.

Alan S. Milward was a renowned historian of contemporary Europe. In addition to his books, as well as articles and chapters in edited books, he also wrote nearly 250 book reviews and review articles, some in French and German, which were published in journals world-wide. Taken together they reveal a remarkable degree of theoretical consistency in his approach to understanding the history of Europe since the French Revolution. This book brings together these previously unexamined pieces of historical analysis in order to trace and shed light on key intellectual debates taking place in the second half of the 20th century. Many of these discussions continue to influence us today, such as the role of Germany in Europe, the economic, social and political foundations of European integration, the European rescue of the nation-state, the reasons for launching the single currency, the conditions for retaining the allegiance of European citizens to the notions of nation and supra-nation, and ultimately the issue of democratic governance in a global environment. In bringing together these reviews and review articles, the book provides an introduction to the main scholarly achievements of Milward, in his own words. Fernando Guirao and Frances M.B. Lynch provide an introduction to the volume, which both guides the reader through many of the academic debates embedded within the text while underlining their contemporary relevance. By introducing and bringing together this hitherto overlooked treasure trove of historical analysis, this book maps a close itinerary of some of the most salient intellectual debates of the second half of the 20th century and beyond. This unique volume will be of great interest to scholars of economic history, European history and historiography.