Both the golden age of the Renaissance state and the catastrophic era of
the Wars of Religion, this fascinating period in French history has been
oddly neglected by English-language historians. Professor Baumgartner's
book fills a major gap in the textbook market: an accessible, fully
current account which covers the principal political, economic and
cultural themes from Francois I's successful centralization of the
state, through France's near prostration under the Catholic-Huguenot
civil war, and ending with the accession of Henri IV.