Over the past year I have been studying the history of Seventeenth Century Europe (see my Amazon reviews of "The Age Of Louis XIV" by Will and Ariel Durant and "The Age of Religious Wars" by Richard S. Dunn). Each book approaches the era a little bit differently and "Europe In The Seventeenth Century" is no exception. I like its approach. It starts by addressing the underlying trends in economic development, political theory and practice, the scientific and intellectual revolutions, religion and the arts. It then delves into the actual developments in war and the revival of France from Henry IV to Louis XIV, with special attention paid to the contributions of their great statesmen Cardinals, Richelieu and Mazarin. Louis XIV's establishment of the absolute monarchy is related as the leading story of the age. Despite his stature as the most admired monarch in Europe, Louis closed his career in retreat before a united front of European foes.

The remarkable tale of the Dutch Republic is skillfully told. I find it interesting. This small country, devoid of resources, established itself through trade and skillful diplomatic balancing acts. Its attempt to establish itself as a republic in a continent of monarchies ultimately was abandoned when it sought leadership from the House of Orange.

The decline of Spain, leading to the War of Spanish Succession, almost led Europe to either French domination of the world or a continent wide war.

The section on the transition of the Hapsburg empire form a hodgepodge of territories related only by allegiance to a common monarch to a geographically contiguous Danubian monarchy chronicled a development which would affect Europe to the present day.

An interesting, but less significant story, is the Swedish struggle for Baltic supremacy. Although this was the high water mark of Swedish power, it had little long-term effect Europe.

Similar in its staying power was the monumental effort of Peter the great to modernize Russia. Although seemingly of superhuman proportions, Peter's reforms ultimately, like so may foreign invaders, were swallowed up by Russia itself.

A test of a book is whether it introduces the reader to new concepts. This book passes this test. There are two key concepts I took from "Europe in the Seventeenth Century". One is the wisdom of Leopold I of Austria, who accepted the loss of Hapsburg lands in the Netherlands to France in order to concentrate on the consolidation his position in Eastern Europe against the Turks. This action established a Danubian Hapsburg Empire which survived for over two centuries and advanced the cause of Christendom against Islam.

The other significant insight is a French approach to international relations. This book points out that, even in an era of strong religious fervor, France was willing to subordinate support for Catholicism to political gain. In the struggle with the Catholic Hapsburgs, Louis XIV and Cardinal Mazarin were willing to support Protestant rivals of the Hapsburgs. This subordination of principle to expediency seems to be a trait of French statecraft which has persisted to the present day. Ironically, one of the beneficiaries of French support was the Hohenzoleran ruled Brandenburg-Prussia, which would cause so much trouble for France the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries. I am glad that I read this book. You should read it also.