Coercion, Capital and European States：AD 990 - 1992

ThisisatonceanaccountandanexplanationoftheevolutionofEuropeanstatesduringthepresentmillennium.ThecentralproblemaddressedbytheauthorconcernsthegreatvarietyinthekindsofstatethathaveprevailedinEuropesinceAD990.ProfessorTillyshowshowinteractionsbetweenthewieldersofpowerontheonehandandthemanipulatorsofcapitalontheotherresultedinthreestateformationseachofwhichprevailedoverlongperiods-tribute-takingempires,systemsoffragmentedsovereignty,andnationalstates.HearguesthattoconceiveEuropeanstatedevelopmentasasimple,unilinearprocessisuntenable,andfurtherthatrelationsbetweenthestatesthemselvesareabigfactorintheirformationandevolution.ThefinalpartofthebookthenappliestheseinsightstothehistoryofThirdWorldstatessince1945.ForthepaperbackeditiontheauthorhasmademinorrevisionsthroughoutandprovidedanadditionalsectionontherapidchangesthathaverecentlytakenplaceinCentralandEasternEurope.'Animportant,provocativetheory,withmuchoriginalityandrichlydocumented...itisextremelywellwritten,despitecontainingboththeoryandawealthofempiricalinformation.Itcariessubstantiallearninglightly'-MichaelMann,"AmericanJournalofSociology".'Admirable...Thoughtfulandscrupulous'-BasilDavidson,"JournalofInternationalAffairs".'AdmirersofCharlesTilly'sworkonEuropeanhistorywillnowhaveevenmoretoadmire-anothergenuinebreakthrough...Straightforward,enlightened,andpowerful'-JackA.Goldstone,"ContemporarySociology".