Birth of the Leviathan: Building States and Regimes in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
"...a stimulating read....Ertman's key insight is that the timing of geopolitical competition matters immensely to political development, an argument which he presents and supports elegantly....The sociologist Ertman possesses a fine sense of history, and historians, whether they end up agreeing with Ertman's assessment or not, will not be disappointed reading this interesting book."   Rolf Strom-Olsen, The Sixteenth Century Journal"This is an excellent discussion of the development of the state in medieval and early modern Europe.  It is innovative theoretically; broadly but selectively comparative among western, central, and eastern Europe and Scandinavia; well grounded in monographic literature in five languages; and well-written....this is a stimulating study, well worth reading by anyone interested in early stages of state development."    R. Burr Litchfield, Journal of Interdisciplinary History"Ertman's analysis should be a required guide...and,like other essential works, should strongly discourage facile assumptions about how rational bureaucracies and constitutional regimes developed in the first place."    Andrew C. Gould, The Review of Politics"Thomas Ertman's Birth of the Leviathan is, without question, the best book to date on state formation in early modern Europe, surpassing all previous works on the subject in historical scope, empirical depth, and theoretical sophistication."    Philip S. Gorski, Contemporary Sociology"An extensive bibliography and an excellent index are also decided pluses."    Philip R. P. Coelho, Journal of Economic History"Historians of all these regions and all these centuries must be grateful to Ertman not only for constructing his major interpretive  scheme, and for his analysis of so much of the crucial process of state-building, but for provoking much in the way of exceptions and counter-arguments in a continuing scholarly conversation."    Richard W. Kaeuper, American Historical Review