awareness in Central Europe, and the crises of ancien-regime strucutres there in the face of new challenges at home and abroad.

Each of the essays - some of which specially written for this volume, and others available for the first time in English - is intended to be free-standing and accessible on its own; but they are also designed to fit together and demonstrate an overall coherence. Much attention is devoted to the Austrian or Habsburg lands, especially the interplay of the main territories which comprised them. A central issue here is the evolution of the kingdom of Hungary, from its full acquisition by the

Habsburgs at the beginning of the period to the emergence of the dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the end. But the chapters also range more broadly, both territorially and chronologically.

Though much of the scholarship underpinning this masterly exploration may be unfamiliar to many readers, this is a an elegantly written and stimulating collection, which reflects the exploratory and individual character of the essay as a genre. - ;The only possible responses to this marvellous book are admiration and gratitude. - Derek Beales, Economic History Review;Interlinked essays of enormous learning and suggestiveness...all are meticulously reintroduced, reannotated and cross referenced...Few self-proclaimed 'intellectual' historians can boast as sure a grasp as Evans of the politico-military-economic structures enabling cultural activities. - Alex Drace-Francis, Central Europe,  less