At first glance this issue of Modern Italy looks much like any other recent issue, but 21.1 marks a significant change for the journal: it is the first issue produced by our new publisher, Cambridge University Press. The transition has been very professionally handled by both Taylor and Francis and Cambridge, and we would like to thank all the staff concerned. As the incoming general editors in 2015, T&F’s team, Madeleine Markey, Sarahjayne Smith, and Gareth Meager looked after us superbly, right down to the final email of the year. We are very grateful to them for the way they facilitated our introduction to the complexities of journal production, even as they organised Modern Italy’s transition to the new publisher. At Cambridge University Press, Martine Walsh, Peter Moorby, Richard Horley, Kerr Alexander, and Caela Moffet have spared no effort to make sure that the journal has an excellent start under their imprint, and we very much look forward to working with the CUP staff from this year onwards.
The transition to a new publisher and other events made 2015 a momentous year for Modern Italy and the Association for the Study of Modern Italy. The year culminated in the unforeseen and tragic death of Christopher Duggan, the association’s chair, last November. ASMI and its members, many of whom counted Christopher as a personal friend, feel his loss with intense grief. We are sure we speak for other members of the executive committee, and indeed the association as a whole, in expressing our deep gratitude to Stephen Gundle for offering to return to the role of chair for a one-year interim term. The poignant words he spoke in honour of Christopher at ASMI’s conference last December touched all who were there, and the obituary he has subsequently written appears in this issue. Nothing will fill the void Christopher has left, but he cared deeply about ASMI and Modern Italy, and doing our collective best to ensure that both continue to flourish will honour Christopher’s memory and his contribution to the study of modern Italy.
To this end, the move to Cambridge will build upon the tremendous work of previous editors, contributors, referees, and publisher, providing a new platform from which we hope the journal will extend its reach and attract a wider range of both contributors and readers. Ideological and financial factors do not bode well for humanities journals at present, particularly interdiscplinary journals categorised under ‘areas studies’, but we believe that, with publisher support, good planning, and team effort, the journal will meet these challenges and flourish.
This first issue of 2016 marks the beginning of developments designed to strengthen the journal in the long term. The first significant change concerns the book reviews section. For the last six years, this has been ably edited by Nick Carter, and we take this opportunity to thank Nick for his dedicated work in a demanding role. We are delighted to introduce, with this issue, a new team of four book review editors: Fabio Camilletti (Warwick), Rebecca Clifford (Swansea), Piero Garofalo (New Hampshire), and Francesco Ricatti (Southern Queensland). This international team covers a wide geographical and disciplinary spread, and they will do their best to ensure that Modern Italy’s book review section is second to none in the field.
Lastly, we would like to thank members of the Society for Italian Historical Studies for the very warm welcome they gave us at the recent American Historical Association annual conference in Atlanta. We were delighted to have the opportunity to raise the profile of Modern Italy in North America as part of our ongoing efforts to extend the international reach of the journal and to attract more readers and more contributors from across the globe.
