Piero Sraffa was born on 5 August 1898. The centenary of this event was a welcome occasion to critically assess his legacy in economics. This volume contributes to this task. It contains a set of papers plus some comments written by a number of scholars who have repeatedly dealt with the different facets of the work of one of the most fascinating intellectuals of this century.

There are two ways to contribute to the history of economic thought: by writing about other economists, or by obliging others to write about oneself. On both counts Sraffa did exceptionally well, given the sheer number of pages he published. Whatever he was prepared to have put in print had a deep and lasting impact on the profession. A foremost historian of economic thought of this century, Sraffa was not only interested in the history of our subject for its own sake. Rather, he conceived of a meticulous and critical study of earlier political economists and of the interpretations of their works by later authors as an indispensable task in the development of a coherent economic analysis of modern society. He was of the opinion that in order to promote economic analysis one has to study the history of the subject as well as the history of the subject matter, that is, economic and social history.

As the twentieth century comes to a close, we can safely say that it has seen no other scholar who compares with Sraffa in terms of the challenge he put to the received interpretation of the history of economic thought.