This engaging textbook provides a human perspective of the history of France from 1789 to the present through essays that highlight individuals and intriguing events that too often have been lost under labels and statistics. Students will gain an understanding of the humor and passion in French history from these original chpaters by established scholars. This collection also relates the individuals, events, and controversies to current historiographical debates. The Human Tradition in Modern France is an excellent supplementary text for courses on French history, as well as on Western Civilization.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“The editors and authors of this useful volume are aware of the added dimensions and insights that the scholarship of our day has contributed to our understanding of the complex French past since 1789. But they understand that bloodless categories are not enough and that live men and women made that history. The collaborators are bent here on restoring the human dimension to selected segments of the French past, and the reader of these pages will find lively vignettes of revolutionists, reformers, artists, actresses, colonialists, entrepreneurs, and others. A thoughtful introduction provides the political and social context, and a valuable bibliography concludes it.” ―Joel Colton, Duke University
“This superb collection of essays brings the past two centuries of French history to life like no other single volume I know of. Vivid portraits of men and women―from Jean-Paul Marat and his assassin, Charlotte Corday, in the French Revolution to the first denizens of ‘Club Med’ in the 1950s―bring into human focus the great political and cultural upheavals of modern France. Many of these articles are page-turners. They all offer fresh perspectives that will make The Human Tradition in Modern France a treasure trove for novices to the subject and seasoned professionals alike.” ―Herrick Chapman, New York University
From the Publisher
The Human Tradition in Modern France gives a human perspective on the history of France from 1789 to the present, revealed in essays that highlight individuals and intriguing events that too often have been lost under labels and statistics. Readers will gain an understanding of the humor and passion in French history from these new, original essays by well-established scholars. This collection also relates the individuals, events, and controversies to current debates.
Modern France comes to life in essays on the experiences of five individuals during the French Revolution; the story of Charlotte Corday, a famous artist who murdered French revolutionary journalist Jean-Paul Marat; the journal La Voix des Femmes, published in 1848, which called upon women to become politically active; the public¹s reaction in 1907 to the publication of Léon Blum¹s Du Mariage, a lengthy essay on French mores which denounced the bourgeois conception of marriage; and the story of Charles Anderson, an African-American expatriate who lived in Paris through two world wars. All readers who are interested in French history, modern European history, and world history will be intrigued by this fascinating new book.
About the Author
K. Steven Vincent is professor of history at North Carolina State University. Alison Klairmont-Lingo is an independent scholar.
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