“The present book shifts attention from the French fiscal administration and its structural and organizational inadequacies, across to the bankers who provided the huge injections of cash and especially foreign specie, needed to keep the French armies in the field. … This is a study which brings into focus the operations of a distinct group of financial entrepreneurs, showing that ... Read morethey were both vital to and parasitic upon the state’s military ambitions.” (David Parrott, History - Journal of the Historical Association, December, 2016) “Though this is a technical book, focused narrowly on a particular problem in international banking and state finance, Rowlands does a remarkably good job at explaining the intricacies of his subject, offering excellent introductions to the workings of the remitting system, the use of bills of exchange and the functions of international bankers. … This new book is the definitive work on international remitting in the last phase of Louis XIV’s reign, and is unlikely to be surpassed.” (John Shovlin, English Historical Review, Vol. 131 (552), October, 2016) “Dangerous and Dishonest Men presents an astonishing story of administrative incompetence, corrupt banking practices, and financial disaster. Rowlands is remarkable in his ability to understand and clarify the intricacies of early modern war finance and bring them to bear on one of the major events in French economic history.” (Thomas M. Luckett, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 88 (4), 2016) Show Less