Synopses & Reviews
"Using pamphlets, extensive primary sources, and research and views of well-known historians both cited in the text and heavily footnoted, Margerison explains how the Society of Thirty molded French public opinion... after the establishment... of the Estates General until August 4, 1789. Margerison questions the ideological motivations of crowd actions attributed to them by historians Furet, Halevi, Baker, and others." - CHOICE
Synopsis
Public opinion, according to the eighteenth-century understanding, was the product of rational, informed discourse and was the final and impartial arbiter of public policy. In the months leading up to the French Revolution, both the royal government and its opposition relied upon pamphleteers to sway public opinion, and the number of published pamphlets reached truly astounding proportions in late 1788 and early 1789 when debate intensified on the proper method of organizing the newly recalled Estates General.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-250) and index.