Ebook: Life in Revolutionary France

The French Revolution brought momentous political, social, and cultural change. Life in Revolutionary France asks how these changes affected everyday lives both in urban and rural areas. It sees an international cast of distinguished academics and emerging scholars present new research on how people experienced and survived the revolutionary decade, with a particular focus on individual and collective agency. The book combines innovative work with student-friendly essays to offer fresh perspectives on topics such as: the impact of war; race; sexuality and identity; childhood; spirituality and mysticism; surveillance and transparency; prison communities; food, health and radical medicine; and environmental justice.
The French Revolution brought momentous political, social, and cultural change. Life in Revolutionary France explores how those changes affected everyday life in both urban and rural France and the Atlantic World. It offers innovative and student-friendly research by an international cast of distinguished academics and emerging scholars. The book follows a three- part structure: “Revolutionary Identities and Spaces,” “The Right To? – Revolutionary Justice at Work,” and “Revolutionary Experiences, Practices, Sensations.” Each of these sections is organized to resonate both with classic questions about the Revolution and with contemporary concerns. They address topics ranging from women’s political activism to revolutionaries’ belief in the “right to health,” from the treatment of prisoners of war to the impact of surveillance on daily lives, and from religious freedom to the controversial use of guillotine displays to bring revolutionary “news” to Atlantic audiences.
Essays also introduce readers to the rich sources of the Revolution—including newly exploited archives and the visceral legacies of art and material culture—and to creative methodologies, ranging from GIS mapping to the history of emotion. Each chapter includes a primary source for readers to explore further; many of these are translated into English for the first time.