Liberty and Locality in Revolutionary France
Liberty and Locality in Revolutionary France
This book examines the interface between the old and the new France in the period 1760–1820. It adopts an unusual 'comparative micro-historical' approach in order to illuminate the manner in which country dwellers cut themselves loose from the congeries of local societies that made up the Ancien Régime, and attached themselves to the wider polity of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic state. The apprehensions and ambitions of six groups of villagers located in different parts of the kingdom are explored in close-up across the span of a single adult lifetime. Contrasting experiences form a large part of the analysis, but the story is ultimately one of fusion around a set of values that no individual villager could possibly have anticipated, whether in 1750 or 1789. The book is at once an institutional, a social and a political history of life in the village in an epoch of momentous change.
- A comparative micro-history for this crucial period of change in French history
- Offers an alternative perspective on the rural history of France during the Revolutionary period and beyond
- Of interest not only to historians of France but to anyone seriously interested in the 'micro-history' of village communities
Reviews & endorsements
"Jones' expert knowledge of rural France and his archival mastery have produced an important book for scholars of the French Revolution." Anthony Crubaugh, Illinois State University, American Historical Review
"Jones offers an exemplary comparative microhistory examining six villages.... insightful work. Recommended." Choice
"A well researched book that offers specialists in French history a good look at how varying groups of peasants responded to the events and structural changes of the Revolution." H-France
"...the book's great strenth is that it makes available in Engilsh the kind of historical detail that we normally associate with local studies in French. Such detail provides an exceptionally clear picture of the evolution of village institutions during the Revolution...Jones moves beyond institutional history to offer detailed descriptions of local civic rituals, adding a rich cultural tone to his microhistories." - Journal of Modern History, Michael Kwass, University of Georgia
Product details
March 2003Hardback
9780521821773
322 pages
229 × 152 × 22 mm
0.64kg
6 b/w illus. 10 maps 3 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1. Mise-en-scène
- 2. The structures of village life towards the end of the ancien régime
- 3. Agendas for change:
- 1787–1790
- 4. A new civic landscape
- 5. Sovereignty in the village
- 6. Church and state in miniature
- 7. Land of liberty?
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index.
