Class and State in Early Modern France explores the economic, social, ideological and political foundations of French Absolutism. David Parker's challenging interpretation presents French Absolutism as a remarkably successful attempt to preserve the political and ideological structures of the traditional order.
This reassessment runs contrary to much revisionist historiography, rejecting the widespread tendency to treat French Absolutism either as an instrument of capitalism or political modernisation. It also discusses a number of contentious issues such as the agrarian...

This work brings together two of the hottest issues in current management thinking in the 1990s: the impact of privatization on the performance and behaviour of the companies involved, and the increasingly important role of purchasing and supplier relationships. The notion that efficiency is improved with privatization is critically examined, as is the idea that privatized organizations have recognized the importance of the procurement role and developed both their procurement functions and supplier relationships so as to enhance competitiveness. The book should be of interest to students and...

Is it possible for postmodernism to offer viable, coherent accounts of ethics? Or are our social and intellectual worlds too fragmented for any broad consensus about the moral life? These issues have emerged as some of the most contentious in literary and philosophical studies. In this text philosophers and literary scholars address the reconceptualizations involved in the turn towards ethics. An important feature of this has been a renewed interest in the literary text as a focus for the exploration of ethical issues. Exponents of this trend include Charles Taylor, Bernard Williams, Iris...

From the earliest planning stages of the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes, Hitler was convinced of the importance of taking the Meuse bridges. He resolved that, when his forces broke through the US lines, one special unit should be dressed in American uniforms and issued with American weapons and vehicles. In this guise they could take advantage of the surprise and shock of the breakthrough, and move forward to the Meuse bridges as if they were retreating Americans. Jean-Paul Pallud details their organisation and the fateful sequence of events that followed.