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A History of Everyday Things: The Birth of Consumption in France, 1600-1800

Hardback

Main Details

Title A History of Everyday Things: The Birth of Consumption in France, 1600-1800
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Daniel Roche
Translated by Brian Pearce
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:320
Dimensions(mm): Height 229,Width 152
Category/GenreWorld history - c 1500 to c 1750
ISBN/Barcode 9780521633291
ClassificationsDewey:306.3094409032
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 9 March 2000
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Things which we regard as the everyday objects of consumption (and hence re-purchase), and essential to any decent, civilised lifestyle, have not always been so: in former times, everyday objects would have passed from one generation to another, without anyone dreaming of acquiring new ones. How, therefore, have people in the modern world become 'prisoners of objects', as Rousseau put it? The celebrated French cultural historian Daniel Roche answers this fundamental question using insights from economics, politics, demography and geography, as well as his own extensive historical knowledge. Professor Roche places familiar objects and commodities - houses, clothes, water - in their wider historical and anthropological contexts, and explores the origins of some of the daily furnishings of modern life. A History of Everyday Things is a pioneering essay that sheds light on the origins of the consumer society and its social and political repercussions, and thereby the birth of the modern world.

Reviews

'... an excellent introduction to the cultural history that is being practised in France today.' Times Literary Supplement '... this is an important contribution to a 'hot' topic.' History