Clermont de Lodeve 1633-1789: Fluctuations in the Prosperity of a Languedocian Cloth-making Town

‘The title of this splendid monograph does not do justice to its importance and relevance to the larger questions in French and even European economic development. It is much more than a chronological treatment of the vicissitudes of the wool industry in a hill-town in southern France in the Old Regime. As a step-by-step analysis of a pre-industrial cycle extending over more than a century, J. K. J. Thomson’s study raises economic questions and proposes answers that are applicable to France as a whole.’ R. Forster, Journal of European Economic History

‘… a serious contribution to our knowledge of the French textile industry and of the preindustrial economy in general … he has the important merit of having drawn our attention to the interwoven complexities of industrial development and class structure.’ J. Kaplow, The American Historical Review

‘What could easily have been a narrow and arid piece of research has been transformed by Dr Thomson into a lively contribution, relevant to the broader problems which economic and social historians discuss.’ Tom Kemp, British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies

‘Such a summary does not do justice to the richness of Thomson’s portrayal of successive generations of clothiers and the interpenetration of their personal and business relationships.’ Thomas M. Adams, Business History Review

‘… both James Thomson and Colin Jones have chosen areas of particular interest to historians which take up new avenues. The more important and original work … is that of James Thomson. The Languedoc woollen industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries cried out for detailed examination.’ Olwen Hufton, European Studies Review