'Law, City, and King' provides important new insights into the transformation of political participation and consciousness among urban notables who bridged the gap between local society and the state in early modern France. Breen's detailed research shows how the educated, socially-middling 'avocats' who staffed Dijon's municipality used law, patronage, and the other resources at their disposal to protect the city council's authority and their own participation in local governance. Drawing on juridical and historical authorities, the avocats favored a traditional conception of limited "absolute" monarchy increasingly at odds with royal ideology. Despite their efforts to resist the monarchy's growth, the expansion of royal power under Louis XIV eventually excluded Dijon's avocats from the French state. In opening up new perspectives on the local workings of the French state and the experiences of those who participated in it, 'Law, City, and King' recasts debates about absolutism and early modern state formation. By focusing on the political alienation of notables who had long linked the crown to provincial society, Breen explains why Louis XIV's collaborative absolutism did not endure. At the same time, the book's examination of lawyers' political activities and ideas provides insights into the transformation of French political culture in the decades leading up to the French Revolution. Michael P. Breen is associate professor of history and humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Breen's book is thoroughly researched and effectively argued, presenting a persuasive case study of center and periphery relations during a dynamic phase in the development of the French State.'

Penny Roberts Source: American Historical Review

[Law, City, and King] is a fine contribution to an important set of ongoing debates, and a welcome instance of how a history of the French middle classes might be rewritten. . . . These arguments rest on impressive research, both in Dijon's civic records and in the surprisingly extensive records that the city's lawyers left of their private lives and thoughts; Breen also displays a wide and sympathetic understanding of other historical research on these issues.'

Jonothan Dewald Source: H-France Review