The work features a comprehensive and accurate historical portrait of the Alps and addresses economic and socio-political aspects of that history. It analyses the interplay between the population, economic development and the alpine environment. Mathieu's book demolishes widespread clichés about the Alps, which seek to portray the Alpine region as the complete reversal of society in lowland areas, or as a world segregated from the rest of Europe.
Mathieu, Jon. History of the Alps 1500-1900. Environment, Development, and Society, Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.