This volume, originating in a 2005 conference sponsored by the Yale Center for Parliamentary History, seeks to explore the history of early modern representative institutions in a comparative perspective. In an eloquent introduction, Jansson reminds us that the story of early modern Europe is not simply one of the inevitable growth of absolutism. Representative institutions persisted throughout much of the continent, and when Europeans, particularly the British, traveled to the Americas, they often brought models of representative government with them.

One of the book's impressive features is the breadth of its coverage. Three initial essays discuss England. These are followed by essays on France, Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia, and Spain. The final two essays deal with colonial America and Canada, respectively. Thus, while the influence and importance of English institutions comes across clearly, the Whiggish temptation to limit the benefits of representative government to the British Isles is clearly and effectively avoided.

H. T. Dickinson's essay on the representation of the people in eighteenth-century Britain sets a high initial standard for the volume. Drawing extensively on his previous work, Dickinson summarizes the major shifts in eighteenth-century understandings of representation. He emphasizes the importance of the constitution rather than simply widespread participation as a key indicator of England's liberty and reminds us how the quality of those who voted (property holders with a stake in the nation) was more important than the quantity of voters. Yet, this model was, by the end of the century, being called into question. For a short introduction to the issues surrounding eighteenth-century governance and representation in England, Dickinson's essay is hard to beat. Paul Seaward's contribution on parliament and accountability is also impressive. Broadly conceived and clearly expressed, Seaward shows how ideas of political and financial accountability fused in the late seventeenth century, declined somewhat under Walpole, and then revived in the 1770s. The ongoing importance of precedents from the 1640s, especially the 1644 Committee of Accounts, comes through strongly. Seaward also shows how the emphasis on accountability was a particular feature of Presbyterian and later Country politicians. Gordon Turnbull offers a case study of James Boswell's relations with James Lowther, first Earl of Lonsdale. Lonsdale was an important boroughmonger in northwest England, and Turnbull argues that, despite his instinctive Tory/Royalist sympathies, Boswell's experiences with Lonsdale may have contributed to the somewhat broader political views discernible in his diaries.

David Bell's piece on France highlights the tensions between two different models of representation—“metaphorical embodiment” and “liberal delegation” (76–77). In a bold attempt to consider representation from 1500 to 1800, he shows how there was no simple transition from medieval embodiment to modern delegation. He shows how both the Estates General and the Parléments could provide alternative means of national embodiment, distinct from the monarch. Yet, in the 1790s the revolutionaries themselves seemed to fall back on mystical notions of representation. Ronald Asch draws attention to the recent revival of historiographical interest in the estates of the Holy Roman Empire and links this to a growing skepticism about how “absolutist” absolute monarchs actually were. His main focus is on nobles in the ecclesiastical states. He attributes the survival of representative institutions in such states to the role that they had in guarding and preserving noble status. Asch also shows how the nobility were becoming increasingly urbanized in the eighteenth century.

The Irish parliament in the seventeenth century is the subject of Jane Ohlmeyer's essay. She indicates the continuing importance of contacts with the court in Whitehall and also discusses the catholic confederate general assemblies that met during the 1640s. Her conclusion seeks to situate Ireland within broader European trends. It does so very well, but in this essay, as in others, the comparative reflection could be more extensive.

Knud Jespersen considers the importance of representation in Denmark-Norway and Sweden-Finland in the early modern period. He concludes that one of the reasons why Sweden-Finland emerged as the more successful of the two states was that its system of representation worked better than the more absolutist notions prevailing in Denmark. José Perez, however, wants to show how the Castilian Cortes was not quite the empty shell that many assume it was by the seventeenth century. Instead of a rapid victory for absolutism, he paints a picture of slow atrophy.

Jack P. Greene and Ramsey Cook explore in different ways the transplantation of English institutions to colonial government. Greene, drawing on recent imperial historiography, stresses the importance of compromise and consent in the formation of colonial institutions and traces the way in which colonial assemblies had established themselves by 1700. Cook incisively shows how the pressures of ruling Canada after 1763 ultimately led to the establishment of assemblies that allowed French speakers to preserve their own rights. Steve Pincus's conclusion urges political historians to take broader perspectives and tackle big questions, while suggesting that there appears to be an interesting congruence between ideas of property as land and representation of that national will on the one hand and notions of property as labor and the need to represent a diversity of interests institutionally on the other. Overall, the volume succeeds admirably in summarizing existing research while suggesting directions for future development.