"The Present State of Germany, one of Samuel Pufendorf's earliest and most important works, was first published in 1667 under the pseudonym Severinus de Monzambano. Its blunt, colorful, and unapologetic challenge to mainstream German constitutional law made it enormously controversial as soon as it appeared, and its author was both vilified and exalted in the acrimonious debate that followed. It became one of the most reprinted books of the late seventeenth century." "The work begins by describing the historical origins, specific institutions, and concrete workings of the German empire. It then relates these to the constitutional structure of Germany and the traditional forms of government. Here Pufendorf emphasizes sovereignty as the defining characteristic of a state and distinguishes regular from irregular states in terms of whether sovereignty is unified and effective or not, with Germany falling into the latter group. The final chapters discuss possible remedies for the empire's maladies and address the problem of religious diversity and the political significance of particular confessions."--BOOK JACKET.