A great cultural revolution struck Europe in the eighteenth century with the arrival of the public sphere. Public opinion in the form of new cultural institutions such as the newspaper, the novel, and the coffee house threw down the gauntlet to established regimes. T. C. W. Blanning's fascinating new book explores the interaction of politics and culture during these final years of Old Regime Europe and shows why some regimes adapted and flourished while others blundered blindly and died.