Early Modern Europe: The Age of Religious War, 1559-1715is a very readable text. It presents in a clear and understandable style the political, religious, economic, and cultural forces at work in this critical period of European history. The chapters are focused, and complex issues are communicated effectively. In short, it is a tour de force.

In an engaging look at a transformative period in both European and world history, Mark Konnert takes his readers on an illuminating journey through the world of Early Modern Europe. He introduces his travellers to broad areas, trends, and developments, and then focuses on specific nation-states and significant events. This is European history on a large scale, but it does not neglect particular segments of society and their concerns. It is a comprehensive study incorporating the works of a wide range of specialists as well as Konnert's original scholarship, and it gives the student a strong factual and contextual base for further study. Konnert boldly addresses the religious component of the age of religious warfare and brings a concrete, multi-dimensional approach to the topic. A clearly written and well-organized text, Early Modern Europe successfully addresses the complexity underlying the significant events of mid-sixteenth through early eighteenth-century history.

Mark Konnert is an associate professor of history at the University of Calgary and the author of Civic Agendas and Religious Passion: Châlons-sur-Marne during the French Wars of Religion and the upcoming Local Politics in the French Wars of Religion: The Towns of Champagne, the Duc de Guise, and the Catholic League, 1560-95.