Peasantry and Society in France since 1789

Description

This book provides a lucid introductory overview of the principal problems and changes that have affected the French peasantry since 1789. Dr. Moulin examines the social, economic, and cultural evolution of the peasantry as a subsistence economy that has been replaced by commercialized, capitalist farming, and looks at the political consequences of the dramatic relative decline in the numerical importance of the French rural sector. Regional variations are discussed, and the impact of changes in education, diet, and housing analyzed in a lucid account, translated by anglophone experts on the subject, that should readily establish itself as the principal text on the subject. Useful student aids include a chronology and bibliographies of both French and English work.

"Moulin deserves praise for writing a history that is much more than an arid economic treatise filled with facts, figures, charts, and graphs--although the volume does contain its share of these. Economic modernization is certainly the dominant theme, but the author is equally sensitive to changes in lifestyle, sociabililty, and mentality experienced by peasants as they moved from autarchy to participation in a capitalist farming system. Moulin's treatment is unbiased and unsentimental. The translation is clear and remarkably free of jargon. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and even specialists will appreciate Moulin's succinct yet thorough introduction to this complex, fascinating subject." The Historian