The subject of this book is the economic transformation of Greece from the Balkan Wars to the present day-that is, the transformation of a poor, agrarian country into a developed economy of the Western world. It is a long journey, marked by both leaps forward and setbacks, a journey heavily dependent on the international environment. Sometimes Greece has managed to take advantage of this environment; at other times, it has failed to keep pace-something that in recent years has led the country into a real trap, a true deadlock.

The book is not addressed only to historians and economists. It is an attempt to narrate the difficult and often anxiety-ridden path the country has followed, in which political and social factors have equally shaped the reality of the Greek economy. Moreover, the logic that guides the narrative does not follow cycles or historical determinism; instead, it is the product of the efforts-sometimes successful, sometimes not-of the people who live and work in this country, those who generate its wealth.