The making of revolutionary Paris
Book description
The sights, sounds, and
smells of life on the streets and in the houses of eighteenth-century
Paris rise from the pages of this marvellously anecdotal chronicle of a
perpetually alluring city during one hundred years of extraordinary
social and cultural change. An excellent general history as well as an
innovative synthesis of new research, The Making of Revolutionary Paris
combines vivid portraits of individual lives, accounts of social trends,
and analyses of significant events as it explores the evolution of
Parisian society during the eighteenth century and reveals the city's
pivotal role in shaping the French Revolution. David Garrioch rewrites
the origins of the Parisian Revolution as the story of an urban
metamorphosis stimulated by factors such as the spread of the
Enlightenment, the growth of consumerism, and new ideas about urban
space. With an eye on the broad social trends emerging during the
century, he focuses his narrative on such humble but fascinating aspects
of daily life as traffic congestion, a controversy over the renumbering
of houses, and the ever-present dilemma of where to bury the dead. He
describes changes in family life and women's social status, in religion,
in the literary imagination, and in politics. Paris played a significant
role in sparking the French Revolution, and in turn, the Revolution
changed the city, not only its political structures but also its social
organization, gender ideologies, and cultural practices. This book is
the first to look comprehensively at the effect of the Revolution on
city life. Based on the author's own research in Paris and on the most
current scholarship, this absorbing book takes French history in new
directions, providing a new understanding of the Parisian and the
European past. 36 b/w illustrations, 4 maps, 1 table About the Author
David Garrioch is Associate Professor of History at Monash
University, and author of The Formation of the Parisian Bourgeoisie,
1690-1830 (1996) and Neighborhood and Community in Paris,
1740-1790 (1986).
Learn more about this book or order it
Other
publications by Monash staff
