This remarkably rich and insightful book will remain an essential read on Bourbon political culture and opens up exciting comparative perspectives wider afield, on the early modern period and beyond.
Julian Swann has taught at Birkbeck College, University of London, since 1989. He is the author of Politics and the Parlement of Paris under Louis XV, 1754-1774 and Provincial power and absolute monarchy: the Estates General of Burgundy, 1661-1790 as well as many articles on the political and administrative history of early modern France. His next project is to complete a biography of Louis XV.