Synopses & Reviews
This book provides a lucid introductory overview of the principal problems and changes that have affected the French peasantry since 1789. Dr. Moulin examines the social, economic, and cultural evolution of the peasantry as a subsistence economy that has been replaced by commercialized, capitalist farming, and looks at the political consequences of the dramatic relative decline in the numerical importance of the French rural sector. Regional variations are discussed, and the impact of changes in education, diet, and housing analyzed in a lucid account, translated by anglophone experts on the subject, that should readily establish itself as the principal text on the subject. Useful student aids include a chronology and bibliographies of both French and English work.
Synopsis
This book is intended to provide students with a lucid introductory overview of the principal problems and changes that have affected the French peasantry since 1789. Dr Moulin examines the social, economic and cultural evolution of the peasantry as a subsistence economy which has been replaced by commercialised, capitalist farming, and looks at the political consequences of the dramatic relative decline in the numerical importance of the French rural sector.
Table of Contents
Outline chronology; Introduction; 1. From the ancien régime to the Restoration 1789 1815; 2. A slow transformation: 1815 1870; 3. The difficult years: 1870 1914; 4. Towards a separate world: 1914-1950; 5. A spectacular transformation: 1950 to the present; Notes; Conclusion; Bibliography; Guide to further reading in English; Index.