Description
Book SynopsisThe Human Tradition in Modern France gives a human perspective of the history of France from 1789 to the present, revealed in essays that highlight individuals and intriguing events that too often have been lost under labels and statistics. Students will gain an understanding of the humor and passion in French history from these new, original essays by well-established scholars. This collection also relates the individuals, events, and controversies to current historiographical debates. The Human Tradition in Modern France is an excellent supplementary text for courses on French history and is also useful for courses in world history and Western Civilization.
Trade ReviewThe editors and authors of this useful volume are aware of the added dimensions and insights that the scholarship of our day has contributed to our understanding of the complex French past since 1789. But they understand that bloodless categories are not enough and that live men and women made that history. The collaborators are bent here on restoring the human dimension to selected segments of the French past, and the reader of these pages will find lively vignettes of revolutionists, reformers, artists, actresses, colonialists, entrepreneurs, and others. A thoughtful introduction provides the political and social context, and a valuable bibliography concludes it. -- Joel Colton, Duke University
This superb collection of essays brings the past two centuries of French history to life like no other single volume I know of. Vivid portraits of men and women—from Jean-Paul Marat and his assassin, Charlotte Corday, in the French Revolution to the first denizens of 'Club Med' in the 1950s—bring into human focus the great political and cultural upheavals of modern France. Many of these articles are page-turners. They all offer fresh perspectives that will make The Human Tradition in Modern France a treasure trove for novices to the subject and seasoned professionals alike. -- Herrick Chapman, New York University
Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: 1789–1815 Chapter 1: Voices from the Streets in the French Revolution Chapter 2: Death in the Bathtub: Charlotte Corday and Jean-Paul Marat Chapter 3: The Chénier Brothers and Jacques-Louis David: Artists in the French Revolution Part II: 1815–1870 Chapter 4: Victor Jacquemont in India: Travel, Identity, and the French Generation of 1820 Chapter 5: Désirée Véret or the Past Recaptured: Love, Memory, and Socialism Part III: 1870–1914 Chapter 6: Vacher the Ripper of the Southwest Chapter 7: Authority, Revolution, and Work: Views from the Socialist Left in the Fin de Siècle Chapter 8: Family and Nation in Belle-Epoque France: The Debate over Léon Blum's Du Mariage Chapter 9: Notorious Women Speak for Themselves: French Actresses in the Nineteenth Century Part IV: 1940–Present Chapter 10: "The Oldest Negro in Paris": A Postcolonial Encounter Chapter 11: Régis Debray: Republican in a Democratic Age Chapter 12: The Business of Pleasure: Creating Club Méditerranée, 1950–1970 Suggested Readings
