The Sinews of Power

Military conflict and the rise of urban Europe

“…Warfare is a prominent explanation for nation-state formation in Europe (Tilly, 1975, 1992, Mann, 1986, Brewer, 1989, Downing, 1992, Besley and Persson, 2009, Gennaioli and Voth, 2014). Tilly's (1975, p. 42) famous statement is: "War made the state, and the state made war."…”

Rethinking the Public Sphere in Early Modern England

“…It was only in the 1690s and thereafter that the political struggle over how best to feed the voracious appetite of a now greatly expanded state apparatus rendered such public discussion a permanent feature of political life. 83 We conclude with a final paradox. We see different paths, and indeed different political modernities or public spheres, emerging out of the circulation (in part) of conspiracy theories and more or less unsubstantiated political rumors.…”

War and economy. Rediscovering the eighteenth-century military entrepreneur

“…34 The concept of the 'fiscal military state' introduced by John Brewer underlined the state's crucial role, and many historians have used this idea to explain national differences in resource-raising capacity. 35 Subsequent studies of taxation and public debt backtracked somewhat on the state's overriding role. It is now more widely recognised that central bureaucracies continued to rely on interest groups outside the state who intervened not only in revenue-raising procedures, but also in the creation and linking up of public-debt markets.…”