Several new articles open the 2010 regular issue, dealing with those Nordic and Mediterranean areas of inquiry that have characterised our journal since its inception: philology (D. Ferioli and V. Miglio), history (G. Hamza), geography (M.S. Campanini) and philosophy (G. Sigurðsson). Additionally, this issue comprises a number of contributions dealing with economics and economic affairs (e.g. H.Þ. Hilmarsson), most of which are contained in a special section devoted to freer, personal reflections on the current economic crisis.

Former contributors, members of the editorial board, and scholars registered in our mailing list were invited to express their views and experiences vis-à-vis the current crisis, as it continues to unfold in the Nordic countries and all around the Mediterranean Sea. We wish to thank the experts that took part in this attempt to promote a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a worrying, financial-speculation-born crisis that many commentators have compared to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Eighty years ago, that crisis led to dramatic outcomes, material as well as ideological, including the one discussed by Professor Gábor Hamza in his article on the German Third Reich. The outcomes of the current crisis are yet to be fully witnessed and comprehended.

We also wish to thank the scholars who allowed us to enrich the 2010 issue with critical essays, book reviews and interviews, and we welcome their interest in future forms of collaboration with our journal.

The Editors