Living the French Revolution, 1789-99

What did it mean to live through the French Revolution? This is a new narrative account of the Revolution which probes the lived experience of revolutionary upheaval for the people of France's villages and country towns. Peter McPhee draws on a vast range of material to listen to how working people understood, participated in or rejected the Revolution. The freshness of the voices we hear across more than two centuries is startling.

He contests the orthodox view of the Revolution as an urban upheaval of which the outcomes were political and ideological. For the working people of country towns, villages and farms, the Revolution had a dramatic impact on daily life: from family relationships and religious practice to the nature of social and economic structures and the environment. Above all, people would never understand themselves or their world in the same way.

This is a compelling story which both makes sense of the often bewildering story of these years while taking us closer to a comprehension of what it meant to be an inhabitant of France at that time. The book will be of particular use to undergraduate students and their teachers because of its clear narrative style and illustrations.