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Western Europe

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Abstract

A great deal of economic history has been dedicated to questions concerning Western Europe. This chapter recommends a selection of works in this genre. The second part then sets out a pathway towards writing novel contributions to the economic history of this world region. The author advocates that scholars invert the typical approach and hold the rest of the world up as a mirror through which to explain European exceptionalism.

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Blum, M. (2018). Western Europe. In: Blum, M., Colvin, C. (eds) An Economist’s Guide to Economic History. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96568-0_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96568-0_31

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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