Walled Towns and the Shaping of France: From the Medieval to the Early Modern Era 2009th Edition

‘Wolfe produces a masterful synthesis of historical literature on town fortifications linking urban, military, and political history while developing a novel interpretive framework assessing French state-building from the perspective of walls: their construction, maintenance, and eventual destruction, and the contests to control these processes. Wolfe’s book should be read by all French historians as well as scholars of urban, military, and architectural history. Superb.’ American Historical Review

“This book covers much new ground in relating the history of France’s town-walls and fortifications to the general history of the country. It is based on a formidable reading of the scattered sources, and will lead many readers to material that they had not known.” – David Buisseret, formerly Garrett Professor of History, University of Texas at Arlington