Jeremy Black's revisionist history shows that both thrusting "bourgeois" Protestant states like the Netherlands and Britain prospered and, in Britain's case, became a global power. The "reactionary" Catholic states like Austria and France at various times remained stable until the deluge of the French Revolution. "Absolutism" was no myth, but "absolutist" states still had to rule with consent. Black weaves these themes into a rich and coherent tapestry to give a clear and authoritative picture of the complexities of the early modern period.