This volume undertakes the important task of envisioning a regional history of Asia based on its unique internal characteristics, going beyond the usual West/non-West dichotomy. The “regional trade zone of modern Asia” was debated in the 1980s. Since then, Japanese historians of the...

The Late Middle Ages (c.1300–c.1500) saw the development of many of the key economic institutions of the modern unitary nation-state in Europe. After the ‘commercial revolution’ of the thirteenth century, taxes on trade became increasingly significant contributors to government finances,...

Introduction -- China: It's Politics, History and Economy -- China and the Great Divergence -- Italy in China: 1861 - 1919 -- Trade and Concessions -- Italy in China in the Interwar Years -- Evolution of Commercial Relationships -- Final Remarks.