Revisiting the Great Fact of War and Bourbon Absolutism: The Growth of the French Army during the Grand Siècle

Using as a background his previous scholarship on the growth of the French army during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the author in this chapter reflects on the nature of historical scholarship, and concludes that, contrary to his earlier conception of knowledge as a "product," the study of history seems like a process, equally about discovery and discussion.