Richard Lachman is a professor of comparative, historical and political sociology at the State University of New York at Albany (USA). Drawing on a new synthesis of ideas drawn from Marxist class analysis and theories of elite conflict, this book offers a compelling examination of the transition from feudalism to capitalism in early modern Western Europe. Comparing the history of regions and cities of England, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands over several centuries, the author shows how Western European feudal elites (landowners, clergy, kings, officials), seeking to protect their privileges from rivals, unwittingly contributed to the creation of nation states and capitalist markets in the post-Reformation era.