Standing outside the revisionist and postmodernist tide, noted professors explore the changing intellectual and cultural discourses of the late 18th century in the latest volume of this compelling series. The essays analyze a wide range of subjects, including the rise of the bourgeoisie, the arguments over the French state's progressive function, the reality of social conflict, and the revolutionary goals and rights of the peasant class.

This is the story of one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs in modern French history. Drawing upon a wealth of archival and private documentation. Lewis uncovers the history of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf and assesses his contribution to the development of industry in France. Lewis explores the relationship between seigneurial, proto-industrial, and modern forms of capitalism in the Cevennes region of southeastern France in the eighteenth century, and demonstrates the international scope of proto-industrialization. This subtle and scholarly study seeks to unravel the complex problems associated with the impact of the French Revolution on the processes of modern French capitalism. Lewis traces the responses of a wide variety of individuals, including Tubeuf and his greatest rival, the marechal de Castries. He examines the epic struggle of these two powerful men for control of the rich coal-mines of the region, and their legacy to succeeding generations.

Alfred Cobban's Social Interpretation of the French Revolution is one of the acknowledged classics of postwar historiography. Cobban saw the French Revolution as central to the "grand narrative of modern history," but provided a salutary corrective to prevalent social explanations of its origins and development. A generation later this powerful historical intervention is now reissued with a new introduction by the distinguished scholar Gwynne Lewis. It provides students with both a context for Cobban's arguments, and assesses the course of Revolutionary studies in the wake of The Social Interpretation.

Gwynne Lewis' history opens with a full analysis of all the components of traditional France, including political and religious structures, the seigneurial system, the bourgeoisie and the poor. Part two examines the meaning and challenge of the Enlightenment, with particular reference to women and the mass of the poor. Part three concentrates upon the relationship between the shift to laissez-faire economics, popular revolts and government repression, providing the essential background to the Revolutionary decade of the 1790s. The Revolution witnessed the rise of a politicised 'Popular Movement' that achieved, briefly, a measure of popular democracy. War and counter-revolution blocked the move towards real democracy, strengthened the authority of the centralised state, and enhanced the credibility of bourgeois political and economic power. One of the main contentions of this work is that the failure of both monarchical and Revolutionary regimes to deal with the massive social problem of poverty played a far larger part in explaining the collapse of the Bourbons in 1789, and the failure of democracy during the 1790s, than most historians have allowed. Likewise, the importance of religion in directing the momentous events of this period has also been under-estimated.

A short introductory history of the French Revolution which covers the social, economic and cultural, as well as intellectual and political aspects. Taking this broad approach to the subject, Gwynne Lewis presents an interpretive essay which reviews recent debates and re-assesses the nature and impact of the Revolution. The author illustrates not only the variety of historical interpretations but also the range of different contexts in which the Revolution has been set. Six thematic chapters highlight the importance of analysis and interpretation in the study of a historical event, and the conclusion evaluates early "orthodox" and recent "revisionist" approaches to provide students with an intelligible resume of the Revolution and its historians.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Alfred Cobban's The Social Interpretation of the French Revolution is one of the acknowledged classics of post-war historiography. This 'revisionist' analysis of the French Revolution caused a furore on first publication in 1964, challenging as it did established orthodoxies during the crucial period of the Cold War. Cobban saw the French Revolution as central to the 'grand narrative of modern history', but provided a salutary corrective to many celebrated social explanations, determinist and otherwise, of its origins and development. A generation later this concise but powerful intervention was reissued in this 1999 edition with an introduction by Gwynne Lewis, providing students with both a context for Cobban's own arguments, and assessing the course of Revolutionary studies in the wake of The Social Interpretation. This book remains a handbook of revisionism for Anglo-Saxon scholars, and is essential reading for all students of French history at undergraduate level and above.

Richard Cobb is one of the most active and influential English historians of France. During a long career of research and writing, his interest has ranged from the Revolution to Vichy. He is especially renowned for his seminal work on the popular movement and on popular attitudes and preoccupations during the Revolution, as well as on its provincial history. This collection of essays is written by his friends, and is dedicated to him. The essays reflect some of the issues that have preoccupied Richard Cobb. Focused on some less familiar corners of the history of the Directory and the Consulate, it is concerned with regional and social rather than metropolitan and political history.