History

`The Sun King has always been over-exposed -- a habit he started himself. Here is the student's antidote to boredom. Campbell has produced the best short guide available and a vigorous synthesis of the latest research, complete with extensive bibliography, unfamiliar documents and vital glossary. Fresh material abounds and a misconception is demolished on every page. There is no sign here of reheating old recipes.' History Review

This study of the first half of the reign of Louis XV considers the nature of politics in the ancient regime. Researched from primary sources, it offers a comprehensive analysis of the neglected ministries of the Duc de Bourbon and Cardinal de Fleury.; Part one examines the court, policy and faction, while part two considers the crises provoked by Jansenism and the Paris Parliament. Campbell's discussion of the methods and practices of political management in this period of successful government should provoke debate and shed light on the crisis of the old regime in the 1780s

This book investigates how scholars from a variety of disciplines have defined and explained political development across what was formerly known as the "age of absolutism." It assesses whether the term still has utility as a tool of analysis and it explores the wider ramifications of the process of state-formation from the experience of central Europe from the early 17th century to the start of the 19th.

Why was Louis XIV successful in pacifying the same aristocrats who had been troublesome for Richelieu and Mazarin? What role did absolutism play in reinforcing or changing the traditional social system in seventeenth-century France? This analysis of the provincial reality of absolutism argues that the answers to these questions lie in the relationship between the regional aristocracy and the crown. Starting with a critical examination of current approaches to state and society by institutional, social "Annales," and Marxist historians, the author calls for a new class analysis based on the findings of all these schools.

Zmora's short, stimulating essay in Routledge's "Historical Connection s" series, while echoing some of Dewald's conclusions, is a tightly ar gued interpretation of the interrelationship of the evolution of the m odern state, the monarchy, and the aristocracy. Briefly, the expensive and brutally competitive European state system shaped the structure o f the nobility, assimilating them and allowing a means of exercising p ower and gaining wealth. Zmora carefully examines the chief states of western Europe, including the exceptional English situation. Based lar gely on European scholarship, this title is recommended for upper divi sion students and above. -o D.C. Baxter, Ohio University -d July 2001

Oliver Cromwell was the only republican ruler in English history. He rose from being an obscure country farmer, through a brilliant career as a soldier, to become head of state as Lord Protector after the revolution of 1649. But although we have extensive records of his letters and speeches, much about his career and his inner motives remains mysterious. Through a wide variety of primary sources, some previously unpublished, this book considers what drove Cromwell as a soldier, politician, statesman and religious visionary; how he saw his own mission, and how others viewed him. Ultimately we confront a haunting question: was Cromwell a man driven by visions of a free and just society, or by ambition and self-interest; a principled defender of civil and religious liberties, or a bigot and tyrant? This book explores these issues and leaves students to make up their own minds.

This book surveys the channels through which political ideas and knowledge were conveyed to the English people from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the Revolution of 1688. Shapiro argues that an assessment of English political culture requires an examination of all means by which this culture was expressed and communicated. While the discussion focuses primarily on genres such as the sermon, newsbook, poetry, and drama, it also considers the role of events and institutions. Shapiro is the first to explore and elucidate the entire web of communication in early modern English political life.

For two hundred years historians have viewed England’s Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689 as an un-revolutionary revolution—bloodless, consensual, aristocratic, and above all, sensible. In this brilliant new interpretation Steve Pincus refutes this traditional view.By expanding the interpretive lens to include a broader geographical and chronological frame, Pincus demonstrates that England’s revolution was a European event, that it took place over a number of years, not months, and that it had repercussions in India, North America, the West Indies, and throughout continental Europe. His rich historical narrative, based on masses of new archival research, traces the transformation of English foreign policy, religious culture, and political economy that, he argues, was the intended consequence of the revolutionaries of 1688–1689. James II developed a modernization program that emphasized centralized control, repression of dissidents, and territorial empire. The revolutionaries, by contrast, took advantage of the new economic possibilities to create a bureaucratic but participatory state. The postrevolutionary English state emphasized its ideological break with the past and envisioned itself as continuing to evolve. All of this, argues Pincus, makes the Glorious Revolution—not the French Revolution—the first truly modern revolution. This wide-ranging book reenvisions the nature of the Glorious Revolution and of revolutions in general, the causes and consequences of commercialization, the nature of liberalism, and ultimately the origins and contours of modernity itself.

In this collection of essays, a group of distinguished American and British historians explores the relations between the American Revolution and its predecessors, the Puritan Revolution of 1641 and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Hobbes is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ideas and political thought, and his seminal text Leviathan is widely recognised as one of the greatest works of political philosophy ever written. The Routledge Guidebook to Hobbes' Leviathan introduces the major themes in Hobbes' great book and acts as a companion for reading this key work, examining: The context of Hobbes' work and the background to his writing Each separate part of the text in relation to its goals, meanings and impact The reception the book received when first seen by the world The relevance of Hobbes' work to modern philosophy, it's legacy and influence With further reading included throughout, this text follows Hobbes' original work closely, making it essential reading for all students of philosophy and politics, and all those wishing to get to grips with this classic work.

An outstanding examination of the Crises that lead to the colonial rebellions of 1689.

This work takes as its subject Louis XIV at Versailles - from the moment he decided to transform his father's hunting lodge into the greatest palace in Europe to his death there 54 years later. It covers the daily life of the king, the court and the government during the period of France's apogee in military power and artistic achievement.

This is the first major archivally-based study of the political career of Wenzel Anton Kaunitz, State Chancellor of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1753 to 1792. Author of the diplomatic revolution of 1756 and a brilliant foreign minister of the Austrian Empire, Kaunitz was virtually the third head of state under Maria Theresia and Joseph II. He emerges from this study as the key figure in the development of enlightened absolutism in the Habsburg monarchy and the guiding spirit behind the modernization of the state.