Mazarin was the model statesman of the early modern period in French history. Geoffrey Treasure follows his career from pupil of the Jesuits, through legate in Paris and Avignon to service for Louis XIII and beyond. He examines in detail Mazarin's crucial part in many diplomatic exchanges and in particular those which brought an end to the Thirty Years War and the Franco-Spanish war. Treasure places Mazarin in the context of a study of the times, highlighting the rapidly changing nature of government as well as social and cultural developments.