This "comparative micro-historical" study for the transitional period between the old and the new France, (1760-1820) analyzes six small localities. It explains how country dwellers disengaged themselves from the congeries of local societies that made up the ancien regime, and attached themselves to the wider polity of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic state. The result is a strikingly new perspective on the rural history of France during an epoch of momentous change.

This book fills a gap in the literature on the French Revolution, and offers a synthesis that brings together the fruits of two generations' research in the field of French rural and agrarian history. The contention of Georges Lefebvre that the peasantry occupied center stage during the early years of the Revolution is vindicated with the support of fresh evidence culled from local and national archives, unpublished theses, and little-known printed sources.

This textbook has been written to guide teachers and students through the enormous and ever expanding literature on the French Revolution. The author combines social and political interpretations of the origins of the Revolution and offers a synthesis that takes full account of current debates. He also seeks to restore the Revolution to its domestic surroundings, and argues that the dramatic events of 1789 need to be considered alongside the reform achievements of Bourbon absolute monarchy.

This textbook has been written to guide teachers and students through the enormous and ever expanding literature on the French Revolution. The author combines social and political interpretations of the origins of the Revolution and offers a synthesis that takes full account of current debates. He also seeks to restore the Revolution to its domestic surroundings, and argues that the dramatic events of 1789 need to be considered alongside the reform achievements of Bourbon absolute monarchy.

This is a study of rural society, with particular reference to the peasantry. It focuses on an area of France which is defined as the southern Massif Central, the four departments forming the southern perimeter of the highland plateau of central France, and spans a century which marked the apogee of peasant civilisation in this region and which witnessed the revolutions of 1789 and 1848. The book adopts a broadly cultural definition of the peasantry, and offers a comprehensive account of the rhythms of rural life over some three or four generations. However, the main emphasis is on the...