Early Modern Italy: A Social History is a fascinating survey of society in Italy from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries - from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. During this period Italy was not a coherent political unit, being divided into many different kinds of states. Particularly apparent was the deep North-South divide economically, socially and linguistically. This book is crucial to the understanding of the diversity, conflicts and incompatibilities from the past that still affect the stability and fragility of united Italy today.
Early Modern Italy covers the whole of the Italian peninsula from the Venetian Republic, Milan, Florence and the Kingdom of Naples to the rural Italy of Calabria and Campagna. It covers a multitude of themes, including:
* the effect of geography and population on society
* the relationship between urban and rural Italy
* land systems, agriculture and rural communities
* urban society from professionals and artisans to peddlers and prostitutes
* the family and household
* the church and religious life.