The contributions in this book, inspired by the 50th anniversary of the cholera outbreak in Naples, reconstruct the impact of epidemics on the city from the modern to the contemporary period. The authors effectively and thoroughly analyze the evolution of the complex urban fabric of Naples, one of the most significant in Europe, in relation to the growing interdependence of markets. From a long-term perspective, it is possible to avoid absolutizing what has occurred in recent decades and identify meaningful constants that characterize epidemic phases over time. In this way, the historical events of Naples depict the complex and contradictory relationship between man and the ecosystem, which, throughout the centuries and up to the present day, has marked the major European metropolises.
Francesco Dandolo is a professor of Economic History at the University of Naples Federico II. He has recently published two books: Luigi Einaudi tra le due guerre. Questioni sociali e banche (Bancaria Editrice, Rome, 2022) and Tracce. Storia dei migranti in Campania 1970-2020 (Iod, Naples, 2023).
Idamaria Fusco is a Senior Researcher at the CNR-ISEM (Institute of History of the Mediterranean Europe). On the subject of epidemics, she has published, among others, the two volumes Peste, demografia e fiscalità nel Regno di Napoli del XVII secolo (2007) and La grande epidemia. Potere e corpi sociali di fronte all’emergenza nella Napoli spagnola (2017).
Gaetano Sabatini is a professor of Economic History at the University of Roma Tre. His most recent studies include Economia ed emigrazione nel processo di integrazione europea in T. Ricciardi (ed.), Storia dell’emigrazione italiana in Europa. Dalla Rivoluzione francese alle generazioni Erasmus (vol. II, Dal Trattato di Roma all’elezione del Parlamento europeo, 1957-1979, Rome, 2024, pp. 3-55). On the theme of emergencies, he co-edited, with I. Fusco, Il filo sottile dell’emergenza: controllo, restrizioni e consenso, a special issue of RiMe – Rivista Mediterranea (vol. IX, n. 3, December 2021).