ABSTRACT
The Latin countries-Italy, Portugal and Spain-were industrial latecomers, at the European periphery, and only experienced mass emigration late in the nineteenth century. When they did join the European mass migration, they did so in great numbers. The fact that they joined the mass migrations late, that they were poor by west European standards, and that so many went to Latin America, has generated a number of debates on both sides of the Atlantic. The debates imply that the Latins were different. Were they?
