"Average life expectancy in Italy more than doubled over the last 100 years, rising from 36 years in 1887 for both sexes to 72 and 79 years for men and women, respectively, by 1986.... The aim of the present study is to interpret this trend in the light of the mortality dynamic by age and...the health transition which began in Italy at the close of the last century.  By reconstructing the annual data necessary for this purpose it will be possible to pin-point how and when changes took place in the cause-specific mortality structure and what impact these changes had in either accelerating or curbing improvements in life expectancy." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND ITA)