Lineages of the Absolutist State

Forty years after its original publication, Lineages of the Absolutist State remains an exemplary achievement in comparative history. Picking up from where its companion volume, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism, left off, Lineages traces the development of Absolutist states in the early modern period from their roots in European feudalism, and assesses their various trajectories. Why didn't Italy develop into an Absolutist state in the same, indigenous way as the other dominant Western countries, namely Spain, France and England? On the other hand, how did Eastern European countries develop into Absolutist states similar to those of the West, when their social conditions diverged so drastically? Reflecting on examples in Islamic and East Asian history, as well as the Ottoman Empire, Anderson concludes by elucidating the particular role of European development within universal history.

Author: Perry Anderson
Publisher: Verso
Published: 03/12/2013
Pages: 573
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9781781680100
ISBN10: 1781680108
BISAC Categories:
- History | Europe | General
- Political Science | Comparative Politics
- Political Science | History & Theory | General

About the Author
Perry Anderson is the author of, among other books, Spectrum, Lineages of the Absolutist State, Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism, Considerations on Western Marxism, English Questions, The Origins of Postmodernity, and The New Old World. He teaches history at UCLA and is on the editorial board of New Left Review.