Guido Alfani is Associate Professor at Bocconi University, Italy, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is chief editor of the journal Popolazione e Storia. An economic and social historian and an historical demographer, he published extensively on Early Modern Italy, specialising in social alliance systems (particularly godparenthood), in the history of epidemics and famines, and in economic inequality.

• Introduction 1. War 2. Famine 3. Plague 4. Winners and Losers 5. Population and the Economy: Underlying Trends Conclusion: Towards the Seventeenth Century Appendix Bibliography Index