Out of Italy: Two Centuries of World Domination and Demise

Fernand Braudel was a French historian and a leader of the Annales School. He is considered one of the greatest of the group of modern historians who emphasize the role of large-scale socioeconomic factors in the making and writing of history.

Paul Brion has a passion for storytelling. He believes that audiobooks-our most current form of the oral tradition-are the purest of the interactive and co-creative arts. An autodidact with eclectic interests, he enjoys learning about a wide variety of subjects, as he has an avaricious hunger for knowledge.

Siân Reynolds was born in Cardiff and taught at both Sussex University and Edinburgh University before serving as Chair of French at Stirling University from 1999-2004. She has translated numerous books from the French, both fiction and nonfiction.