Examining the competing institutions that arose during the decline of feudalism (among them urban leagues, independent communes, city states, and sovereign monarchies), this book disposes of the familiar claim that the superior size and war-making ability of the sovereign nation-state made it the natural successor to the feudal system.
"Spruyt takes on a theme that is ... of central import to political science.... A convincing demonstration that there was nothing inevitable about the triumph of the (present) form of the state."--John A. Hall, McGill University
"Winner of the 1996 J. David Greenstone Book Prize, American Political Science Association"
