Europe in the Seventeenth Century

This was published in 1925 and so some of the commentary, even though it is about the 17th century, is not what would now be said of the events of that century. There are seven chapters (out of 13) which deal mainly with France, the nation which loomed extra-large in the century. Much of the

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material is of high interest, including a n account of Jansenism. and of the 30 Years WArI also fond th account of Charles XII of Sweden intriguing. The author concludes Charles was insane, since he did such dumb things, like leaving
Sweden for years while invading Russia and holing up in Turkey. In general I found Ogg's comments insightful and worth reading. The final chapter discusses intellectual leaders of the century, such as Descartes Leibnitz, and Spinoza, and Thomas Campanella, of whom I don't recall hearing previously.
But there were stretches where I did not find the text too interesting, no doubt my fault but true. Despite the title, there is no discussion of England except as it pertains to her activity on the Continent.

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