The Pre-industrial Urban System

"Bernard Lepetit, co-editor of the Annales, has brought to the study of urban history the complex, subtle, and multifaceted approach characteristic of that great journal. This is a major work in urban history that will be difficult for undergraduates but required reading for graduate students in many fields that share an interest in the history of urban networks. I expect its methodological innovations will be emulated in other applications..." Journal of Economic History "In this remarkably original book, Lepetit approaches the history of French towns in relation to urban economics, regional geography, cultural representations, administrative institutions, and transport networks. The most interesting feature of his interdisciplinary perspective on urban history involves the application of formal theory to historical evidence about urban functions, hierarchies, and networks...Lepetit deserves high praise for the subtlety of his theoretical reasoning, the ingenuity of his historical research, and the rigor of his quantitative methodology. His book will become a classic work for economists, geographers, and sociologists, as well as historians who are interested in the development of urban systems." Journal of Interdisciplinary History "Lepetit makes good observations of the links between politics, administration, and public finance." The Journal of Urban Technology