A pioneering exploration of the phenomenon of the composite state in Eighteenth-century Europe. Employing a comparative approach, it combines the findings of new research on Ireland with broader syntheses of major composite states in Europe those of France, Austria and Poland-Lithuania.

This creative approach to learning C++ programming introduces readers to Karel the Robot and then shows them how to design programs that instruct Karel to perform complex tasks. Karel's world is essentially a practice field on which readers learn valuable lessons about creating and debugging program. The programs instruct the robot to move and manipulate its environment using object orientation.