John W. Cole is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, President of the Northeastern Anthropology Association, and author or editor of four books in addition to The Hidden Frontier. Eric R. Wolf's many books include the influential Europe and the People Without History (California, 1982) and Envisioning Power: Ideologies of Dominance and Crisis (California, 1998).

• PREFACEACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTIONChapter I. The InquiryTwo VillagesFieldworkThe Politics of Place NamesQuestions and AnswersChapter II. The Forging of Tyrolese IdentityThe Alpine LandscapePrehistoryNew SettlersPolitical ConsolidationTrade and MiningThe Peasant RevoltThe Counter-ReformationEconomic and Political DeclineChapter III. Torments of NationalismItalian UnificationGerman UnificationNationalist RivalryWorld War IFascismThe PlebisciteChapter IV. The Economic Development of the Rural SectorEarly Middle Ages: Sixth-Eleventh CenturiesLate Middle Ages: Twelfth-Sixteenth CenturiesThe Early Modern Period: Sixteenth-Seventeenth CenturiesTyrol and Trentino ContrastedThe Economic Margin of the StateChanging Economic RelationsThe Fascist InterludeThe Postwar BoomChapter V. History of an Upland ValleyThe Roman FrontierBishop and CountCommunesGerman SettlementPeasant RevoltsThe Impact of the Counter-ReformationThe French InvasionPopulation: St. Felix and TretThe Impact of NationalismChapter VI. Mountain HusbandryThe Ecology of Mountain AgricultureThe Annual CycleThe Organization of Village ResourcesThe Limits of ExpansionThe Facts of LifeChapter VII. The Mountain EstateRights in EstatesEconomic PursuitsThe Organization of LaborChapter VIII. InheritanceThe Ideology of InheritanceThe Realities of LifeEcological ConstraintsThe Age Factor in InheritanceThe Inheritance Process in TretThe Inheritance Process in St. FelixInheritance and WomenSecondary HeirsSummaryChapter IX. The New Economic OrderChanging CircumstancesThe Response in TretThe Response in St. FelixTret and St. Felix ComparedThe Material Basis of the Good LifeProsperity and MisfortuneChapter X. Kith and KinDomestic GroupsAuthorityMarriageAssociationsChapter XI. Cultural ConfrontationAppendix 1. Population StatisticsAppendix 2. Interview SheetAppendix 3. Representative Holdings in Tret and St. FelixCase 1: The "Mill Estate" In TretCase 2: Three Brothers' Estates in TretCase 3: The Forest Warden in TretCase 4: The "Big Estate" in St. FelixCase 5: The Estate in the WoodsCase 6: Four Estates in St. FelixAppendix 4. Interethnic MarriagesSt. Felix: 560 Marriages on RecordTret: 366 Marriages on RecordBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX