Description
Book SynopsisShows what it meant to make an independent intellectual life as a woman in France. This work offers portraits of the work and mental lives of many fascinating women who put pen to paper during and after the Revolution.
Trade Review"[Hesse identifies] a (relatively precise) historical moment as being of seminal importance in one possible definition of modernity. When that has been grasped, the full ingenuity of her arguments and the considerable quality of her writing can emerge."--Richard Parish, Times Higher Education Supplement "Hesse provides a unique and well-documented look at women's history."--Library Journal "Carla Hesse ... deploys Kant's ambivalent definition of freedom as the ground for a more hopeful and explicitly liberal feminist reconstruction of female agency... This is a concise book on a vast topic, one that is sure to inspire further research and discussion."--Joan B. Landes, American Historical Review "Hesse's study is persuasive not only because of its historical rigor, logical presentation and clarity of style, but also because of its explicit values... [Her] liberal values offer a particularly good point of departure for her historical study of women's transition to modernity... Hesse provides a thorough, well-documented and convincing explanation of women's historical impediments and achievements in their roles as modern citizens."--Claudia Moscovici, Nineteenth Century French Studies "Short, suggestive, and brilliant... A powerfully crafted historical vision presented ... in lucid and engaging prose... In her deft combination of quantitative research and critical readings, Hesse provides a model of how to pursue the social history of ideas."--David A. Bell, New Republic "This stimulating study of French women and publishing between 1789 and 1800 contributes significantly to both the cultural history of the French Revolution and current debate about the Revolution's impact on women... Hesse argues convincingly that after 1789 French women found new opportunities to define themselves in print as modern individuals and that post-revolutionary successors benefited from the new publishing realities."--Linda L. Clark, Journal of Social History "Extremely challenging and at the same time immensely enjoyable... [R]eaders will definitely benefit from the chapters, none of which is without interest."--Marie Lathers, French Review
