Bonney is the author of The King's Debts: Finance and Politics in France 1589-1661 (Clarendon Press, 1981) and Political Change in France under Richelieu and Mazarin 1624-1661 (Clarendon Press, 1978)

• List of maps; List of tables; Chronology; Part I. Religious Developments in the European Dynastic States: Religious divisions in early modern Europe; Part II. The Development of the European Dynastic States: Europe in the age of the Italian wars 1494-1559; Europe in the age of the wars of religion 1559-1618; The struggle for European hegemony 1618-1660; The outsiders of Europe; Part III. The Structure of the European Dynastic States: The rise of European absolutism; Population and social structure; The European economy; Court, culture, and community; Conclusion: The European dynastic states; Maps; Notes; Guide to further reading; Index

`Profesor Bonney naturally draws on his massive erudition in French state-building as a paradigm or contrast to the rest of the European states; but even where he is synthesizing the work of others there is a clear, constructive authorial presence ... This book is a meticulous, highly scholarly work of reference, helped by an ample and modern bibliography ... It will be referred to often and with confidence.'Euan Cameron, History