The Myth of Absolutism

Conventionally, "absolutism" in early-modern Europe has suggested unfettered autocracy and despotism. Recently historians have questioned such comfortably simplistic views. This lively investigation of "absolutism" in action xxx; continent-wide but centred on a detailed comparison of France and England xxx; dissolves the traditional picture to reveal a much more complex reality; and in so doing illuminates the varied ways in which early-modern Europe was governed.