This book provides a vivid biography of a towering Italian banker, pioneer and entrepreneur. It weaves the entrepreneurial ventures of Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) through the narratives of business and politics in the Nineteenth century, the growth of European financial markets and the decline of Papal power during the Italian Risorgimento. The discussion is founded in rigorous historical research using original sources such as the Archivum Secretum Vaticanum papers and other official documents; the archives of the Torlonia family, and of the Rothschild bank in Paris; memoirs; correspondences, and newspapers. Through this book readers learn that Alessandro Torlonia was a man of many faces, who was one of the most complex and influential characters of Italian economic life in the nineteenth century. Felisini also provides an expert critique of the financial history of the papacy: an area of heightened interest given the notoriety of relations between the Holy See and its bankers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Focal topics such as the history of European elites and the history of European financial markets will have an interdisciplinary appeal for scholars and researchers.

This book provides a critical reassessment of the role of the public sector during the Golden Age in both advanced and emerging economies. Contributions focus on a major player in the setting of mixed economies: the top managers of state-owned enterprises. Bringing together world-renowned scholars, this collection analyzes the actions of these managers and their contribution to the rise and fall of the mixed economy during the Golden Age, opening up a comparative perspective of the topic. The book forces readers to reconsider how crucial state-owned enterprises were for economic recovery and for the modernization of the production apparatus of many countries in Western Europe, India, Latin America and South Africa. Key chapters discuss state-owned enterprises in twentieth-century Europe, the managerial revolution in Italy, the role of the state in Argentine industrialization, and the organization of capital in the Indian economy. This insightful collection will appeal to scholars and students with an interest in economic history and the socio-economic impact of state-owned companies around the globe.

This book provides a critical reassessment of the role of the public sector during the Golden Age in both advanced and emerging economies. Contributions focus on a major player in the setting of mixed economies: the top managers of state-owned enterprises. Bringing together world-renowned scholars, this collection analyzes the actions of these managers and their contribution to the rise and fall of the mixed economy during the Golden Age, opening up a comparative perspective of the topic. The book forces readers to reconsider how crucial state-owned enterprises were for economic recovery and for the modernization of the production apparatus of many countries in Western Europe, India, Latin America and South Africa. Key chapters discuss state-owned enterprises in twentieth-century Europe, the managerial revolution in Italy, the role of the state in Argentine industrialization, and the organization of capital in the Indian economy. This insightful collection will appeal to scholars and students with an interest in economic history and the socio-economic impact of state-owned companies around the globe.

This book provides a vivid biography of a towering Italian banker, pioneer and entrepreneur. It weaves the entrepreneurial ventures of Alessandro Torlonia (1800-1886) through the narratives of business and politics in the Nineteenth century, the growth of European financial markets and the decline of Papal power during the Italian Risorgimento. The discussion is founded in rigorous historical research using original sources such as the Archivum Secretum Vaticanum papers and other official documents; the archives of the Torlonia family, and of the Rothschild bank in Paris; memoirs; correspondences, and newspapers. Through this book readers learn that Alessandro Torlonia was a man of many faces, who was one of the most complex and influential characters of Italian economic life in the nineteenth century. Felisini also provides an expert critique of the financial history of the papacy: an area of heightened interest given the notoriety of relations between the Holy See and its bankers in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Focal topics such as the history of European elites and the history of European financial markets will have an interdisciplinary appeal for scholars and researchers.