This work provides an amalysis of European capital cities and their impact in the early modern period. Capital cities were dynamic and influential, accounting for more than a third of all European city growth during the 16th and 17th centuries. Some were ancient cities, like Paris and London; a number were new expressions of royal power, such as Madrid and Berlin; other were colonial cities, offshoots of state empires, like Dublin or Naples. Almost all shared rapid population growth, high levels of mortality and heavy immigration. Economically they were boosted by the growth of the Court and state bureaucracies, the influx of great landowners, and the multiplication of luxury industries and service trades. They become powerful transmitters of international cultural values and fashions, whether in dress, speech, architecture, material goods or leisure. They played a vital role in the transformation of early modern society, and their impact on regional, national and overseas hinterlands was immense, influencing demographic, economic and social structures and development. The book comprises ten chapters written by leading European and American urban historians, and combines a general consideration of the role of these cities with a series of case studies. Though the main focus is central and western Europe, the collection also examines the growth of state capitals in European empires outside Europe, including Latin America.