Drawing upon recent research and past studies, David J. Sturdy presents a concise, up-to-date analysis of the private and public careers of two of the most influential ministers in seventeenth-century France.

Richelieu and Mazarin:
- adopts a broadly chronological approach, interspersed with passages at relevant points which compare and contrast the key achievements of the two Cardinals
- examines such central themes as the internal government of France, the ministers' conduct of foreign policy, and the nature of elite and popular resistance to their policies
- explores the political ideas and strategies of Richelieu and Mazarin, the relations between the ministers and the Crown, and the patronage they exercised

The book concludes with a comparative assessment of the significance of the two figures for the history of France.