France in the Enlightenment

by Daniel Roche, Arthur Goldhammer (Translator)

A panorama of a whole civilization, a world on the verge of cataclysm, unfolds in this magisterial work by the foremost historian of eighteenth-century France. Since Tocqueville’s account of the Old Regime, historians have struggled to understand the social, cultural, and political intricacies of this efflorescence of French society before the Revolution. France in the Enlightenment is a brilliant addition to this historical interest.

France in the Enlightenment brings the Old Regime to life by showing how its institutions operated and how they were understood by the people who worked within them. Daniel Roche begins with a map of space and time, depicting France as a mosaic of overlapping geographical units, with people and goods traversing it to the rhythms of everyday life. He fills this frame with the patterns of rural life, urban culture, and government institutions. Here as never before we see the eighteenth-century French “culture of appearances”: the organization of social life, the diffusion of ideas, the accoutrements of ordinary people in the folkways of ordinary living―their food and clothing, living quarters, reading material. Roche shows us the eighteenth-century France of the peasant, the merchant, the noble, the King, from Paris to the provinces, from the public space to the private home.

By placing politics and material culture at the heart of historical change, Roche captures the complexity and depth of the Enlightenment. From the finest detail to the widest view, from the isolated event to the sweeping trend, his masterly book offers an unparalleled picture of a society in motion, flush with the transformation that will be its own demise.

Genres: History, France, Philosophy, 18th Century, Nonfiction

736 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

Daniel Roche is a French social and cultural historian. His primary field of research is the cultural history of France during the later years of the Ancien Régime.

Reviews

[David Withun · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Bill Winett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up after 100 pages. Maybe someone with a deep understanding of France in the 1700's and 1800's, along with the famous people of the time will find this book more interesting. But to me it was just a litany of names, places, and terminology.

[Karen Renee Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I'm more than half-way through the 700 pages. This is definitely an important work. While it assumes a vast knowledge of French history--both the Ancien Regime and the Revolution--it is meticulously detailed and essential to understanding the background of the Enlightenment. A couple of comments though... 1)While the Enlightenment is "officially" dated as starting in the mid-18thc, I think that the background of Louis XIV's reign is critical to understanding what started all of this in motion. Roche gives little time to XIV and starts right in with XV; 2) This one is a biggie for me. I'm 400 pages into this and he's mentioned "women"... not even a specific person, but just the word "women" about 3 times. Seeing as my niche is studying women in 17th and 18thc France, I'm a bit puzzled by this. To me, women were a critical component of the Enlightenment. Certainly, they were not at the forefront like Diderot or Voltaire, but they provided the means for these men to express themselves... they coaxed the Enlightenment out of the men, so to speak. Looking at the index I see that some of this will be discussed in the upcoming pages, but just as passing stories...

[Pat Carson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned more about France and changes to the country before the Revolution.

[Marguerite Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for research. Delighted with the information.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like what Roche is trying to do. He is trying to link several ways of understanding the Enlightenment: as a scientific flowering, as a redefinition of the state, and as a shift in values. He is also trying to mix intellectual and material explanations for these changes. That much is good.

However, I think too much of the old teleology remains, at least on the intellectual side of things. Roche struggles mightily against the temptation to see the Enlightenment as a collective shedding of superstition and slavery (resulting inevitably in the downfall of the monarchy and the church), but he does not entirely overcome the temptation.

Also, the book makes for unexpectedly dry reading. I mostly blame the fact that I am reading it in translation.

Update: Upon further rumination, I think my second paragraph is entirely wrong and unfair. Roche's Enlightenment does not really lead to the Revolution. It leads to the nineteenth century. Looking back through the book and my notes on it, I don't see a tottering monarchy or even a tottering Church. What I see is the rise of an increasingly bourgeois, utilitarian society within the Old Regime. This, I think, is a plausible account. In fact, it is a very interesting idea precisely because Roche (despite borrowing from Marx as he pleases) does not read any sort of revolution into this social shift.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lengthy treatment of France in the Age of Enlightenment, Frenchman Daniel Roch does a really good job at systematically treating the various powers, ideas, and movements that helped shaped this highly complex resurgence of past ideals which became known as the Enlightenment. Divided into three parts, and subsequent chapters therefrom, Roch deals with topics in detail from the topography to the ruling powers and their affiliates. Although details can become monotonous, I was thrilled when the subject stayed around the Enlightenment ideals, and the philosophical thought of the period. A great book for any European historian to put on their shelf.
Brent McCulley (10/24/13)

[Sean Andrew Mcgann · Rating 5 out of 5]

a lot of colorful inspirational ideas on life are expressed in it !

[Carol Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed and well-written book.