A pioneering text which covers the urban society of early modern Europe as a whole. Challenges the usual emphasis on regional diversity by stressing the extent to which cities across Europe shared a common urban civilization whose major features remained remarkably constant throughout the period. After outlining the physical, political, religious, economic and demographic parameters of urban life, the author vividly depicts the everyday routines of city life and shows how pitifully vulnerable city-dwellers were to disasters, epidemics, warfare and internal strife.

Christopher R. Friedrichs

INTRODUCTION: A WAY OF LIVING.
PART 1 THE CITY IN CONTEXT
Boundaries and Buildings; City and State; City and Church; Production and Exchange; Life and Death.

PART 2 THE CITY AS A SOCIAL ARENA
Work and Status; Family and Household; Power and Pride; Poverty and Marginality.

PART 3 THE CITY IN CALM AND CRISIS
Urban Routine; Urban Crisis; Urban Conflict. CONCLUSION A WAY OF LOOKING.