Volume 22, Number 15 · October 2, 1975

Poverty, Crime & Revolution

By Robert Darnton
Laboring Classes and Dangerous Classes in Paris During the First Half of the Nineteenth Century
by Louis Chevalier, translated by Frank Jellinek

Howard Fertig, 505 pp., $16.50

The Names of Kings: The Parisian Laboring Poor in the Eighteenth Century
by Jeffry Kaplow

Basic Books, 222 pp., $8.95

The French Revolution, 1787-1799: From the Storming of the Bastille to Napoleon
by Albert Soboul, translated by Alan Forrest, by Colin Jones

Random House, 638 pp., $4.95 (paper)

The Poor of Eighteenth-Century France 1750-1789
by Olwen H. Hufton

Oxford University Press, 414 pp., $29.00

Having begun in the 1950s to rewrite history 'from below' and having dug deeper and deeper into the lives of anonymous masses throughout the 1960s, historians have finally hit the bottom of early modern society. They have uncovered the irreducible, irredeemable poor. Although there are signs of a revival of interest in the rich and powerful, the fascination with the history of poverty is now at a peak.



Review, 5873 words

To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:

If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in:

To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below.

I agree to the terms and conditions for this service.

To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below.

I agree to the terms and conditions for this service.


Search the Review
Advanced search