This book, although it has a single author, rests on the work of many scholars. One could not write a work of synthesis such as this one without drawing on the research of countless historians. Many of these people are my friends, as well as my professional colleagues; I express here my debt to them all, in both capacities.

The Baltimore–Washington area has a society of specialists of the Old Regime and the French Revolution who meet regularly to discuss each other's work; the group met and discussed an earlier draft of this work. The members who attended that discussion (as best I can recall) included Orest and Pat Ranum, who kindly offered their hospitality to us all, as well as: Tom Adams, Katherine Stern Brennan, Tom Brennan, Jack Censer, Bob Forster, Mack Holt, Emmett Kennedy, Sharon Kettering, Joe Klaits, Bob Kreiser, Gary McCollim, and Don Sutherland. I here express my sincere appreciation for their comments; I would like especially to thank Gary McCollim, who provided me with a copy of his excellent unpublished thesis on controller general Desmarets.

Others have read parts or all of the manuscript. Cambridge University Press sent the chapters to unknown specialists, as well as to the series editors. The many comments and corrections I received immensely helped my task. My graduate students – Sara Chapman, Joanna Hamilton, Brendan Hill, and Zoë Schneider – also read parts of the manuscript and offered useful comments from the student perspective.