The American economy, energy and environment in the eighties Book

I'm not saying this is a bad history book, it is very good, actually...Beik has a compelling argument to make about how absolutism actually went down during the reign of Louis XIV, and he absolutely slays you with sources. I mean really. This guy appears to have collected data for twenty years or so, from trip after trip to France, and by the time he was done I just threw my hands up. You win, Beik. I can't argue with you. He essentially reconstructed the entire tax structure from late 17th century Languedoc, detailing exactly who got what, and then as if that wasn't enough, he traced the family trees and personal connections of all of those people, to show where loyalties lay and where factions might have been forming. It's a tour de force.
And not all that fun to read. That's what I was hinting at in the beginning. I wouldn't keep this on my shelf and dip back in every now and again. This is the kind of book where you read it, get the argument, write it on a file card, and back to the library with you, sir.
Essentially, the argument: Louis did not actually “modernize” provincial society. Instead, he put in place a system that was “the final, highest phase” of feudalism. He did not force new bureaucratic models on local notables, but rather strengthened and stabilized the earlier class hierarchy; Louis aided “the provincial ruling class, enhancing its domination and making its life more pleasant at the expense of the rest of society.” He instituted tax changes that brought them more money, he regulated local conflicts of authority, and he made it clear that he would not tolerate very much resistance. Absolutism became collaboration, rather than an imposition.