Economic History

The son of a fisherman's revolt against Spanish taxes on fruit in Naples, on 7 July 1647, was part of a wider challenge to Spanish overlordship throughout the Habsburg domains.

Sarah Foster offers a fascinating account of how Irish identity, with its sectarian implications, asserted itself in the manufacture and purchase of luxury goods.

Patrick O'Brian evaluates the costs and benefits of Hanoverian and Victorian government.

Richard Cavendish unthreads the history of this Worcestershire museum.

Trade may have followed the flag, but was there enough stimulus in imperialism to aid national bank balances and development from 1500 onwards? Patrick O'Brien sifts the evidence.

Richard Cavendish trawls through the exhibits to examine the legacy of the city's whaling and fishing industry.

Richard Cavendish reflects on the growth of the Clark's shoe industry.

Commerce in the 16th and 17th centuries

Patrick O'Brien assess the devastating impact of the 'war to end all wars' on an international economic order that had seemed, pre-1914, relatively sturdy.

Helen Davidson on how mining history is in jeopardy.