A Concise History of France

by Roger Price

• ISBN13: 9780521844802
• ISBN10: 0521844800
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-08-08
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book provides a clear and well-informed guide to French history from the early Middle Ages to the present - from Charlemagne to Chirac. It offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive study of French history available. Among the book's central themes are the relationship between state and society, the impact of war and such crucial questions as who possessed political power and how this power was used. It takes account of the great figures in French history, among which Philip Augustus, Henri IV, Louis XIV, Robespierre, Napoleon, de Gaulle and also the findings of social historians concerned with ordinary people, social structures, beliefs, and economic activity. This second edition, substantially re-written to take account of recent research, includes a new chapter on contemporary France - a society and political system in crisis as a result of globalisation, international terrorism, racial tension and a loss of confidence in political leaders.

Table of Contents

List of plates	vi
List of figures	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction	1	(12)
PART I MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN FRANCE	13	(84)
Population and Resources in Pre-Industrial France	15	(15)
Society and Politics in Medieval France	30	(24)
Society and Politics in Early Modern France	54	(43)
PART II THE DUAL REVOLUTION: MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY FRANCE	97	(368)
Revolution and Empire	99	(66)
The Nineteenth Century: Continuity and Change	165	(76)
A Time of Crisis, 1914--1945	241	(74)
Reconstruction and Renewal: The Trente Glorieuses	315	(67)
A Society Under Stress	382	(83)
A short guide to further reading	465	(8)
Index	473