Description
Book SynopsisOfficially, revolutionary France granted all citizens a right to property. In practice, however, there was significant continuity with the Old Regime. H. B. Callaway argues that the state’s fraught attempts to confiscate property from Parisian émigrés reveal contradictions in ideas of ownership considered foundational to modern property rights.
Trade ReviewA fascinating book. Drawing on rich case studies from contested properties in revolutionary Paris, Callaway shows in convincing detail how the ideal of the citizen property owner inescapably clashed with the role of the property owner as an actor in the marketplace. Anyone interested in the history of this tumultuous period will find much to savor in Callaway’s work. -- David A. Bell, author of
Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of RevolutionConceptually bold, intensely researched, and elegantly presented,
The House in the Rue Saint-Fiacre changes our understanding of how property was viewed and used during the French Revolution and beyond. Callaway deftly leverages the tools of social history to shed new light on a topic most often seen through the lens of legal or intellectual history. -- Leora Auslander, author of
Cultural RevolutionsAn illuminating exploration of what émigré property confiscations can tell us about the complexities of French revolutionary policy as practice. Significantly, in examining conflicts over property, Callaway highlights the continued importance of family as a critical unit for the defense of assets. -- Julie Hardwick, author of
Sex in an Old Regime City: Young Workers and Intimacy in France, 1660–1789Carefully researched and compellingly written, this book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of what the French Revolution meant to both private lives and public political culture. Shining welcome light on the murky details of émigré property confiscations, Callaway chronicles how obdurate social and legal realities obliged the state to forgo the democratic promise of 1789. -- Colin Jones, author of
Paris: The Biography of a City
