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The article presents an estimate of the Italian agricultural production in 1929 and in 1936-1937 by province and crop groups. The assessment, conducted, in the late 1930s by a fairly well-known geographer and agricultural statistician, Luchino Franciosa, was originally unpublished and had to be partially reconstructed since the original typescript has come down to us without the appendix containing the detailed calculations. This two-year estimate, built on a homogeneous methodology, is here used to evaluate the trend of the Italian provinces in terms of the value of agricultural production during the recession of the 1930s, highlighting winners and losers among the many «rural Italies» and their different crops. Moreover, Franciosa's data are also a useful basis for a first insight into the determinants of the Great Crisis, from individual product specialisations to more general causes, such as international market trends and the economic policies of the fascist regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the general framework of 'lifestyle migration', the paper explores three materialities associated with the arrival and settlement of British, German and Dutch later-life migrants in the Italian region of Marche, a relatively new 'frontier' region for international retirement migration. The first is about the aesthetics of landscape and the scenic and emotional qualities of the physical and social environment. The second concerns 'home', where we examine house types, property location and home-making practices in terms of 'authenticity', material objects and the cultivation of land for productive purposes. The paper's third thematic focus is on consumption patterns. Most of the 69 participants interviewed for this study hanker after what they perceive as a simpler, more genuine way of life, in tune with the surrounding mixed-farming agricultural environment and distinct from other regions where tourism has taken hold. Many grow their own produce, including some who have small vineyards and olive groves. They enjoy shopping in local markets, eating out in inexpensive local hostelries, visiting museums and cultural festivals, and exploring the many pretty villages and historic towns of the region. The participants embody later-life migration as 'active ageing', but those who are older and/or frailer must consider, often reluctantly, the reality of a less-active and more isolated life in the Italian countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]