A social history of nineteenth-century France

"This book argues that the social impact of the French Revolution has been greatly exaggerated, and that in 1815 France was still predominantly a rural and pre-industrial society. The Revolution introduced only very limited changes on social structures and relationships, the daily lives of ordinary people remained virtually unchanged. A much more decisive turning point in French history, the author suggests, was the period of structural change in economy and society, which began in the the mid nineteenth century"--back cover.