In early modern France almost all posts of public responsibility could only be acquired by purchase or inheritance. By the eighteenth century there were 70,000 venal offices comprising the entire judiciary, most of the legal profession, officers in the army, and a wide range of other professions. William Doyle, one of the foremost historians of early modern Europe, traces the evolution and dissolution of a system which was one of the central institutions of French life for over three centuries.

The years between the Fronde and the French Revolution were the longest period of calm in French history. For much of it, France dominated the international scene in Europe and made efforts to achieve a comparable role in the wider world. Meanwhile, French cultural achievements set standards imitated everywhere. This volume, bringing together an international team of contributors, surveys the full variety of the period on its own terms rather than as a mere prelude to later revolutionary upheavals.

One of the most lively of France's younger historians, Guy Chaussinand-Nogaret argues in this pioneering essay that the traditional picture of the pre-revolutionary French nobility as a caste of intransigent reactionaries and parasites is a fabrication of revolutionary propaganda. Using a whole range of new research and calculations, he argues that the nobility represented all that was most vigorous and forward-looking in eighteenth-century French society. Constantly renewing itself by recruiting the richest members of the middle classes or marrying their daughters, the nobility was in the...

The Blackwell Dictionary of Historians provides an authoritative and readable source book for students and specialists. It includes entries on over 450 historians, dating from Herodotus to the present. Individuals have not necessarily been chosen on account of the importance of their own research but rather for their interest in, and influence on, the theory and practice of history and the role of the historian. In particular the Dictionary includes details of historians most frequently encountered by students following courses on historiography.

Over 200 specialists have...

The candid, inspiring stories in this book reveal the secrets that have helped Latinos make it to the top in a variety of businesses and industries. Readers will discover how to manage people, prepare and set goals, and deal with racism or sexism in the workplace.

You're about to take a journey into the hearts and minds of some of the fastest-rising and most successful executives in America. In a series of confidential and uncensored conversations, they are about to shut the door, cut through the bull, and reveal 100 combat-tested Secrets they've discovered for prospering in today's turbulent business environment. Right now, the pyramids of American business are being smashed, flattened, and rebuilt by global competition, corporate restructuring, and technology shifts. Succeeding in a business career has never been more difficult or more complex. At...

This survey of European history covers a period of 140 years which witnessed the beginnings of the contemporary world. In his account of the economic, social, intellectual and governmental structure and development of pre-revolutionary Europe, the author stresses economic and social trends.