Landry shows how Europeans moved mountains and earth to transform the Alps into a natural battery in order to make fickle water behave more like the dominant energy source of the time: coal. A history of the Alpine energy landscape reveals how central these “peripheral” mountains were to the drama of the early twentieth century and suggests certain lessons as the world contemplates a “green” energy future.

Marchand's talk told the tale of two porcelain manufactories, the Imperial Viennese Manufactory (WPM) and the privately owned Thuringian firm, Wallendorf, from which sprang several 19th-century market leaders (C. M. and Lorenz Hutschenreuther). While their founding dates are separated by nearly a half-century (WPM, 1718; Wallendorf, 1764), both of these manufactories passed through a crucial period in the 1780s in which enlightened absolutist economic policies began to move away from mercantilism towards a freer, more competitive, market for luxury goods. By juxtaposing the fate of these firms between 1770 and 1840, the talk described the collapsing of older forms of princely financing and artisanal production in the face of expanding competition and innovations in chemistry and labor-saving devices.

The latest issue includes an interview with Tara Zahra (who delivered our 2020 Kann Memorial Lecture), an update from the Panel for In Rem Restitution, Bertram M. Gordon on Robert Kann, book reviews, updates from the North American Centers, and more!

How to measure goals and outcomes when interrupted by a pandemic: A long to-do-list remains after Covid-19 forces a sudden departure from Minneapolis.