Antonio Varsori is Professor of International History at the University of Padua, where he is also Director of the Department of Politics, Law and International Studies. He is President of the Liaison Committee of historians of contemporary Europe at the European Commission, President of the Italian Society of International History and a member of the editorial boards of several journals. He has published extensively on the Cold War, European integration and Italian foreign policy. His recent publications include European Union History: Themes and Debates (ed. with Wolfram Kaiser, 2010), and L'Italia e la fine della guerra fredda. La politica estera dei governi Andreotti 1989-1992 (2013). Monika Poettinger is Associate Professor of Economic History at Bocconi University and the University of Florence. She has published extensively on the industrialization of Lombardy, merchant networks and German entrepreneurial migrations. Her recent publications include Deutsche Unternehmer im Mailand des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Netzwerke, soziales Kapital und Industrialisierung (2012) and Firenze e l'Europa liberale. L'Economista (1874-1881) (ed., 2013).