Richelieu and Mazarin by Geoffrey Treasure compares these two striking, but very different, statesmen and evaluates their careers and achievements in the light of modern research.
It explores all aspects of the two men's careers including the historical background, their personal characters, aims and values and their experience of power. Geoffrey Treasure also debates altered perceptions of 'absolutism' and the accomplishments of both leaders.

Mazarin was the model statesman of the early modern period in French history. This study follows his career from pupil of the Jesuits, through legate in Paris and Avignon to service for Louis XIII and beyond. Mazarin's role in the survival of absolute monarchy during the upheavals of the Fronde, and his guidance of the young Louis XIV are given full weight. His crucial part in many diplomatic exchanges and in particular those which brought an end to the Thirty Years War and the Franco-Spanish War is examined in detail. His life is placed the context of a study of the times, highlighting the...

This reissue of a classic textbook has been revised and updated with a new introduction by the author. Geoffrey Treasure provides a thoroughly comprehensive account of the European experience at a time when so much of what is today identified as 'modern' began to take shape.
Discussing key issues of the period, The Making of Modern Europe, 1647 1980 examines:

• the evolution of the developing society
• detailed studies of the people, their environment, attitudes and beliefs
• economic aspects
• the growth of the states
• politics, war...

A reference work which presents the history of Britain in biographical form. The two volumes contain over 1500 short biographies of men and women who played an important part in their time. From the beginning of the Roman period to the end of the reign of Queen Victoria, these volumes cover a broad range of subjects. The personalities portrayed are not confined to those who are known to have impacted directly on church and state, such as royalty, politicians, soldiers and clerics. Also included are poets, writers, artists, explorers and inventors.

In this history, Treasure explores a combination of a personal philosophy, moulded by absolutist thinking and propaganda, and by Mazarin's deliberate training. He examines influences and traits which permitted the growth of Louis XIV's exercise of power and its decent into absolutism.