Eckhart Hellmuth Libri

The last four decades of the 18th century witnessed a sudden acceleration in the pace of change in the political cultures of England and Germany. The ways in which developments in the two countries diverged are the subject of this collection of essays by leading scholars from England, NorthAmerica, and Germany. The book examines a wide range of the ideological stock of the period; the structure of contemporary communications and the contemporary media; the institutional setting of politicization; forms of political association; political self-organization; and politicalstrategies, activities, techniques, and rituals.

When there is a discussion about the transition in Prussia around 1800, as a rule this refers to the reforms which began after 1806. In contrast to this, this volume attempts to focus on other subjects which had previously not received much attention from researchers of Prussian history and in particular to explore the processes of changes within contemporary Prussian society at that time. The articles deal mainly with historico-cultural issues as well as with the changes in the law but also examine the history of the social classes and the crisis of confidence and authority in Prussia before 1806.