This book explores leisure-related voluntary associations in France during the nineteenth century as practical expressions of the Revolutionary concept of fraternite. Using a mass of unpublished sources in provincial and national archives, it analyses the history, geography and cultural significance of amateur musical societies and sports clubs in eleven departements of France between 1848 and 1914. It demonstrates that, although these voluntary associations drew upon and extended the traditional concept of cooperation and community, and the Revolutionary concept of fraternity, they also incorporated the fundamental characteristics of competition and conflict. Although intended to produce social harmony, in practice they reflected the ideological hostilities and cultural tensions that permeated French society in the nineteenth century.

Alan Baker considers locational geographies and spatial histories, environmental geographies and environmental histories, landscape geographies and landscape histories, and regional geographies and regional histories. Seeking to bridge the "Great Divide" between history and geography, Baker identifies basic principles relating historical geography not only to history but also to geography, a reworking which signifies a "new beginning" for this scholarly hybrid.

To what extent has a North-South divide been a structural feature of England's geography during the last millennium and to what extent has it been especially associated with, and recognized during, particular periods in the past? These are the central questions addressed in this pioneering exploration of the history of a fundamentally geographical concept. Six essays treating different historical periods in time are integrated by their common concern with two geographical questions: first, to what extent is it possible for us to detect a material or tangible North-South divide in England in those periods in terms of regional differences in, for example, population, economy, society and culture; and, secondly, how important was the idea of such a divide to the geographical imaginations of contemporaries? A concluding essay by the editors reviews the social construction of England's geography and history and the significance of the North-South divide as a cultural metaphor.

To what extent has a North-South divide been a structural feature of England's geography during the last millennium and to what extent has it been especially associated with, and recognized during, particular periods in the past? These are the central questions addressed in this pioneering exploration of the history of a fundamentally geographical concept. Six essays treating different historical periods in time are integrated by their common concern with two geographical questions: first, to what extent is it possible for us to detect a material or tangible North-South divide in England in those periods in terms of regional differences in, for example, population, economy, society and culture; and, secondly, how important was the idea of such a divide to the geographical imaginations of contemporaries? A concluding essay by the editors reviews the social construction of England's geography and history and the significance of the North-South divide as a cultural metaphor.

In the years before the publication of this book, there had been a marked interest in the methodology of historical geography as well as in its underlying philosophies and analytical techniques. Originally published in 1982, this volume of essays comprises the revised version of most of the papers read and discussed during the symposium held in Cambridge in 1979, and sponsored the International Geographical Union's Working Group on Historical Changes in Spatial Organization. Some of the essays review developments within particular schools of historical geography, whilst others consider the difficulties of identifying and interpreting geographical change. These essays attempt to promote discussion about the purpose and practice of historical geography, and they will be of interest not only to geographers, but also to historians, historical sociologists, anthropologists and demographers, and to all concerned with the methodology of historical enquiry.

Landscapes of material are also landscapes of meaning: praxis is itself symbolic, and all landscapes are symbolic in practice. Ideology and Landscape in Historical Perspective draws together fifteen historical geographers to examine landscapes as messages to be decoded, as signs to be deciphered. The range of examples is wide in terms of period, from the medieval to the modern, and of place, embracing the USA, Canada, Palestine, Israel, South Africa, India, Singapore, France and Germany. Each essay addresses a specific problem, but collectively they are principally concerned with the ideologies of religion and of politics, of Church and state, and their historical impress upon landscapes. The book is introduced by an essay which explores the dialectical understanding of landscapes, and landscapes as expressions of the connection of an ideology to a quest for order, to an assertion of authority and to a project of totalization. The issues raised by landscapes and their meanings - issues of individual and collective action, of objective knowing, of materialist and idealist explanation - are fundamental not only to historical geography but to any humanistic study, and render the geographical study of landscapes of interest to scholars in many disciplines.

The individualism of the French peasantry during the nineteenth century has frequently been asserted as one of its most striking characteristics. In this 1999 book, Alan Baker challenges this orthodox view and demonstrates the extent to which peasants continued with traditional, and developed new, forms of collective action. He examines representations of the peasantry and discusses the discourse of fraternity in nineteenth-century France in general before considering specifically the historical development, geographical diffusion and changing functions of fraternal voluntary associations in Loir-et-Cher between 1815 and 1914. Alan Baker focuses principally upon associations aimed at reducing risk and uncertainty and upon associations intended to provide agricultural protection. A wide range of new voluntary associations were established in Loir-et-Cher - and indeed throughout rural France - during the nineteenth century. Their historical geography throws new light upon the sociability, upon the changing mentalites, of French peasants, and upon the role of fraternal associations in their struggle for survival.

Alan Baker considers locational geographies and spatial histories, environmental geographies and environmental histories, landscape geographies and landscape histories, and regional geographies and regional histories. Seeking to bridge the "Great Divide" between history and geography, Baker identifies basic principles relating historical geography not only to history but also to geography, a reworking which signifies a "new beginning" for this scholarly hybrid.

The individualism of the French peasantry during the nineteenth century has frequently been asserted as one of its most striking characteristics. In this 1999 book, Alan Baker challenges this orthodox view and demonstrates the extent to which peasants continued with traditional, and developed new, forms of collective action. He examines representations of the peasantry and discusses the discourse of fraternity in nineteenth-century France in general before considering specifically the historical development, geographical diffusion and changing functions of fraternal voluntary associations in Loir-et-Cher between 1815 and 1914. Alan Baker focuses principally upon associations aimed at reducing risk and uncertainty and upon associations intended to provide agricultural protection. A wide range of new voluntary associations were established in Loir-et-Cher - and indeed throughout rural France - during the nineteenth century. Their historical geography throws new light upon the sociability, upon the changing mentalites, of French peasants, and upon the role of fraternal associations in their struggle for survival.

Landscapes of material are also landscapes of meaning: praxis is itself symbolic, and all landscapes are symbolic in practice. Ideology and Landscape in Historical Perspective draws together fifteen historical geographers to examine landscapes as messages to be decoded, as signs to be deciphered. The range of examples is wide in terms of period, from the medieval to the modern, and of place, embracing the USA, Canada, Palestine, Israel, South Africa, India, Singapore, France and Germany. Each essay addresses a specific problem, but collectively they are principally concerned with the ideologies of religion and of politics, of Church and state, and their historical impress upon landscapes. The book is introduced by an essay which explores the dialectical understanding of landscapes, and landscapes as expressions of the connection of an ideology to a quest for order, to an assertion of authority and to a project of totalization. The issues raised by landscapes and their meanings - issues of individual and collective action, of objective knowing, of materialist and idealist explanation - are fundamental not only to historical geography but to any humanistic study, and render the geographical study of landscapes of interest to scholars in many disciplines.

An enormous amount of research into British field systems has been undertaken by historical geographers, economic historians and others since H. L. Gray's classic work on English Field Systems was published. Detailed local studies have been legion, generalized explanations of the origins and functioning of field systems few but influential in promoting further studies. This book both synthesises and advances our knowledge of field systems in the British Isles. An introduction by the editors outlines the sources and methods of studies of field systems. There then follow twelve chapters concerned with specific areas within the British Isles. In their own conclusion, the editors consider the problems and perspectives of field system studies in the context of the British Isles as a whole. This chapter is an attempt at generalisation in historical geography, generalization in relation to both existing models of British field systems and putative problems which only further research can resolve.

The debate about the purpose and practice of historical geography has often focused upon the progress to be made in the discipline through an adaptation to new problems, new methodologies, new techniques and new sources. Originally published in 1984, this volume of interpretative essays extends that debate by exploring in tentative fashion some basic methodological and substantive issues from essentially interdisciplinary standpoints. In any exploration, risks have to be accepted as an integral part of this enterprise. All of the contributors to this book take pleasure in one another's polemical company, and each essay explores a wide field while being soundly based in personal research. The hope is that some of this pleasure will be shared by those who critically read these essays.

What was the personality of 19th-century Paris? To answer that question, this book eschews the conventional narrative and chronological route taken by most histories of Paris. Instead, it thematically analyses the complex personality traits of Paris from the onset of the Revolution of 1789 to the beginning of the Great War. Starting with the topographical and cultural legacies that late 18th-century Paris inherited from its foundation in pre-Roman and Roman times and from its medieval infancy and early-modern adolescence, The Personality of Paris unpacks the social and material complexity of the 19th-century city. It considers the role of immigration in the making of Parisians and in the city's growth from half a million in 1801 to almost three million in 1911. It examines the making of its distinctive landscape through the construction of monuments and architectural icons, through its massive re-modelling by Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, through its five world exhibitions, through its emphasis on food, fashion and leisure, and through the ways in which Parisians sought rural release from urban pressure. Finally, the book considers the self-harm done to the person of 19th-century Paris by revolutions and wars and the damage inflicted on it by 20th-century hubristic politicians and architects.

What was the personality of 19th-century Paris? To answer that question, this book eschews the conventional narrative and chronological route taken by most histories of Paris. Instead, it thematically analyses the complex personality traits of Paris from the onset of the Revolution of 1789 to the beginning of the Great War. Starting with the topographical and cultural legacies that late 18th-century Paris inherited from its foundation in pre-Roman and Roman times and from its medieval infancy and early-modern adolescence, The Personality of Paris unpacks the social and material complexity of the 19th-century city. It considers the role of immigration in the making of Parisians and in the city's growth from half a million in 1801 to almost three million in 1911. It examines the making of its distinctive landscape through the construction of monuments and architectural icons, through its massive re-modelling by Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann, through its five world exhibitions, through its emphasis on food, fashion and leisure, and through the ways in which Parisians sought rural release from urban pressure. Finally, the book considers the self-harm done to the person of 19th-century Paris by revolutions and wars and the damage inflicted on it by 20th-century hubristic politicians and architects.