The present paper traces the history of the publication and the conception of Graziani’s reader on the Italian economy in the period after WW2, a successful book of which several editions have been published. It attempts to show what is the place of this book, and in particular of its long introductory essay, in the evolution of Graziani’s interpretation of the development of the Italian economy, and more generally in his economic thought. It is argued that the reader is placed at a crucial point of that evolution.