This new translation offers readers of English a unique look at eighteenth century London and England generally, compared to Paris and France in the same period. It was written by the sharp-tongued and observant journalist Linguet, who had moved there to start a French periodical far from French censorship. His observations range from overviews of official institutions like the Law and religion to descriptions of houses, furniture, markets. etc.

The Bastille is most known for being destroyed - it has endured as a symbol of absolute power that fell to popular anger. But few people, even in France, know anything about the actual prison, notably what it was like inside and the details of how the prisoners were really treated. As it happens, Linguet, once quite famous as a lawyer and journalist, was not only in it, but wrote about the experience, and did so only a few years before it fell - some of have said this book provoked its fall. Certainly it helped raise popular indignation against what many Parisians knew only as a looming presence at the end of one of its main streets. Ironically, most of what Linguet describes is less sinister than many ideas people had then and some still have now of the prison - its very secrecy made it seem more ominous. An accomplished journalist, Linguet describes arrival at the prison, the rooms, the furniture, the food, the guards, the rules, the chapel, even the clock (which showed two chained figures) and a wealth of other details. His own description of the castle is an enduring classic. But this annotated edition adds a great deal of additional information, even describing the various types of toilets in the cells. Extensive footnotes offer additional background and explanations of Linguet's references. This edition also includes an appendix with examples of input and exit forms, a description of the entire complex, two annotated views of the Bastille complex, a closer look at the meals served there and another prisoner's letter, with further descriptions of the conditions there, as well as an extensive bibliography. Whether your interest is in the French Revolution, the Old Regime, the history of prisons, or the forgotten but fascinating Linguet himself, this modern edition of an eighteenth century classic offers a wealth of material. NOTE: This edition is identical with that previously published by Jim Chevallier; the work has been retitled to distinguish it from standard public domain versions without annotation.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text and other issues beyond our control.

Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text and other issues beyond our control.