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Overview
"In the eighteenth century the claims of monarchs and even privileged aristocracies to unquestioned obedience and of the Church to a monopoly of truth were challenged by an increasingly secular and literate society. Reason, the rights of the individual to freedom from arbitrary government and increased tolerance shaped discourses of opposition. A growing population pressing on food supplies and the fiscal demands of governments with expansionist ambitions in America, Asia or central and eastern Europe contributed to confrontation and dissent." "Professor Hufton provides a fascinating account of the undermining of an archaic social order, top heavy with courts, bureaucracies and standing armies in different European contexts. She demonstrates how privilege was countered with protests which provoked constitutional crises and generated popular violence precipitating Europe into an age of revolution."--BOOK JACKET.Synopsis
This book is an updated and revised edition of a classic introduction to one of the key periods in modern European history. Olwen Hufton not only illuminates the complex and significant events of the first era in which modernity is recognisable but provides the essential background to the revolutionary period that followed.
Editorials
From the Publisher
Review of the Previous Edition:
"It is an integrated view set out by a historian of great learning, acumen and distinction. No one teaching or learning about the eighteenth century should neglect it." London Review of Books
Review of the Second Edition:
"Hufton follows a historiographic paradigm which results in her writing a truly European history, rather than a mere addition of national histories. Similarly, the complex interpretation of the interactions between political, social, and economic factors in each of the chapters creates a panoramic view on the European state(s) of the eighteenth century which is an intellectual pleasure to explore for students and experienced scholars alike." H-Net Reviews