A Mediterranean Nineteenth Century: Economic Dynamics of the Mediterranean Area during the First Two-Thirds of the Century

This contribution comes not from a specialist in banking history but from a historian of the nineteenth-century Mediterranean economy, specifically oriented towards mining and metalworking. What I had been asked for was a general presentation of the economic evolution of the Mediterranean area in the course of the century. An overall answer ran the risk of dealing with platitudes and all too well-known generalities. That is why my chapter will deliberately avoid waymarked footpaths, with the sole concern of helping to broaden common reflection.