The Rhyme and Reason of Politics in Early Modern Europe

This volume brings together the best essays and reviews of Herbert H. Rowen, professor emeritus of Rutgers University, foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and one of the first important English-speaking historians of the Dutch Republic since John Lothrop Motley. Many of the essays, though published previously, have not been readily available, while several appear here for the first time. They include close analysis of the Dutch Republic, French absolutism, the eighteenth-century Republic and the Atlantic Revolutions, and direct and indirect commentary on the task of the historian more generally. Also included are three essays and several reviews about the work of Herbert Rowen, which assess his particular contribution to historical studies. The leading characteristics of that work are reflected in the title of this collection: clarity and ease of expression, rigor of thought, and a focus on the intersection of political thought and practice in the early modern period.