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Time and the French Revolution: The Republican Calendar, 1789-Year XIV
Author(s): Matthew Shaw (Author)
- Publisher: Royal Historical Society
- Publication Date: 21 July 2011
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 204 pages
- ISBN-10: 9780861933112
- ISBN-13: 0861933117
Book Description
A history of the innovation and effects of the French Republican Calendar. The French Republican Calendar was perhaps the boldest of all the reforms undertaken in Revolutionary France. Introduced in 1793 and used until 1806, the Calendar not only reformed the weeks and months of the year, but decimalisedthe hours of the day and dated the year from the beginning of the French Republic. This book not only provides a history of the calendar, but places it in the context of eighteenth-century time-consciousness, arguing that the French were adept at working within several systems of time-keeping, whether that of the Church, civil society, or the rhythms of the seasons. Developments in time-keeping technology and changes in working patterns challenged early-modern temporalities, and the new calendar can also be viewed as a step on the path toward a more modern conception of time. In this context, the creation of the calendar is viewed not just as an aspect of the broader republican programme of social, political and cultural reform, but as a reflection of a broader interest in time and the culmination of several generations’ concern with how society should be policed. Matthew Shaw is a curatorat the British Library, London.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Uses detailed archival research to uncover a quantity of new material about the development and implementation of the calendar during the revolutionary period. ― EUROPEAN HISTORY QUARTERLY
Full of fascinating details. ―
JOURNAL OF MODERN HISTORYThere is much of value here. ―
H-FRANCE REVIEWLabor historians will be interested in how labor and markets were organized (Shaw says ‘policed’) under the old and new calendars. The clash with religion is addressed, as well as decimal-time and the history of 18th-century watches and other time-pieces. ―
REFERENCE AND RESEARCH BOOKSAbout the Author
Curator, British Library
