Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-232) and index.
Introduction: The uncertain prospect / Joseph Bergin -- 1. The economy / R.C. Nash : Population and the economy ; Agriculture and agrarian society ; Industry and trade ; Conclusion -- 2. Society / Thomas Munck : Social rank and social mobility ; Peasants, serfs and subservience ; Urbanization and social change ; Poverty, vagrancy and crime ; Riots and social control ; Alternative ideologies: the world turned upside down? ; Conclusion -- 3. Politics / Anthony Upton : The political structure of Europe in 1600 ; The problem of the Reformation ; The pressures of war: Richelieu and Olivares ; Protest, rebellion, revolution: a mid-century crisis? ; The English revolution, 1640-60 ; The search for political stability ; Alternative roads -- 4. War and international relations / David Parrott : The Thirty Years War and European conflict to 1634 ; Early seventeenth-century warfare and the 'military revolution' ; Peace deferred ; Malplaquet and military change in Europe after 1660 ; The wars of French expansion, 1667-97 ; The Spanish succession ; Conclusion -- 5. The age of curiosity / Laurence W.B. Brockliss : The Augustinian landscape ; Curiosity, observation and measurement ; The disenchantment of nature ; The sun-centered and infinite universe ; The ascent of man ; Towards the Enlightenment -- 6. Europe and the wider world / Anthony Pagden : Contexts ; The meanings of 'discovery' ; Nature and its laws ; Mare liberum? ; Competing for empire ; The rise of slavery ; Religion and civilization ; Conclusion -- Conclusion : the ancient and the modern -- Chronology.
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"In this book, Professor Begin and his fellow authors provide an account of the main aspects of seventeenth century Europe - from economy and society to politics, war, and intellectual life. Finally, the book dwells on the ways in which contact with a wider world beyond Europe impinged on the consciousness of Europeans in this 'age of curiosity'. This account, written by leading specialists in the field, will challenge those who are familiar with the period to think again about established views, and awaken the interest of those unfamiliar with it."--Jacket.