A solid narrative account of the reign of Philip Augustus combined with a study of the development of governmental institutions and record keeping during Philip's tenure. John Baldwin's command of the sources is impressive, and he convincingly reconstructs the broad outlines of the shifts that happened primarily in the 1190s that would set up the foundations for Capetian governance for the next several generations. This is very much a work for the specialist reader, though—do not start here if you're new to medieval history. ( )