A History of Modern France (5^th Ed.)

A History of Modern France offers a framework to understand modern French history through a survey of the dramatic events that have punctuated its history from the eighteenth century to the present day.

Covering events such as the French Revolution, the two World Wars and the more recent election of Emmanuel Macron and the "yellow vest" movement, the book takes a balanced approach to the competing interpretations of modern France inspired by its history. This edition has been thoroughly updated to incorporate the most recent scholarship on topics including French imperial history and the empire?s postcolonial legacy, the history of women and gender, and the French experience of World War I. A new section extends the narrative into mid-2019, and additional emphasis has been given to the role of historical memory in the making of French identity. Taking a chronological approach, the book is approachable for students and provides a clear and understandable picture of the history of modern France.

Supported by further reading that has been updated to include the most recent publications, the book is the ideal introduction to the history of modern France for students of this fascinating country.

1 "The Oldest Nation of Europe" 2 Eighteenth-Century French Society and Economy 3 Culture and Thought in Eighteenth-Century France 4 Government under Challenge 5 Collapse of the Old Monarchy 6 Successes and Failures of the Liberal Revolution 7 The Radical Revolution 8 The Return to Order 9 The Napoleonic Years 10 The Restoration 11 The July Monarchy and Its Critics 12 A New Social World 13 The Revolution of 1848: The Crisis of Bourgeois Society 14 The Second Empire’s Decade of Prosperity 15 The Second Empire in Difficulties 16 The Paris Commune and the Origins of the Third Republic 17 The Republicans in Power 18 Economic Depression and Political Crises 19 The Dreyfus Affair and the Bloc Républican 20 Culture and Society at the Fin De Siècle 21 The Belle Époque 22 The Plunge into War 23 Crisis, Victory, and Disillusionment 24 France between the Wars 25 The Illusion of Normality 26 From the Popular Front to the War 27 France in the Second World War 28 The Road to Liberation 29 The Revival of the Parliamentary Republic 30 From the Fourth to the Fifth Republic 31 Politics and Economy in De Gaulle’s Republic 32 Society and Culture during the "Thirty Glorious Years" 33 May 1968 and the End of the Gaullist Era 34 The Mitterrand Years 35 France Enters a New Millennium 36 A New Age of Instability Appendix: For Further Reading

Jeremy D. Popkin is the William T. Bryan Chair of History at the University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky, USA). In addition to his new comprehensive history, A New World Begins: The Story of the French Revolution, he has published Revolutionary News: The Press in France, 1789–1799; You Are All Free: The Haitian Revolution and the Abolition of Slavery; and A Short History of the French Revolution.