Old Regime France: 1648-1788

The years between the Fronde and the French Revolution were the longest period of calm in French history. For much of it, France dominated the international scene in Europe and made efforts to achieve a comparable role in the wider world. Meanwhile, French cultural achievements set standards imitated everywhere. This volume, bringing together an international team of contributors, surveys the full variety of the period on its own terms rather than as a mere prelude to later revolutionary upheavals.

The years between the Fronde and the French Revolution were the longest period of calm in French history. For much of it, France dominated the international scene in Europe and made efforts to achieve a comparable role in the wider world. Meanwhile, French cultural achievements set standards imitated everywhere. This volume, bringing together an international team of contributors, surveys the full variety of the period on its own terms rather than as a mere prelude to later revolutionary upheavals.

William Doyle has been Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Bristol since 1986, and is a Fellow of the British Academy. He is author of Origins of the French Revolution (3rd edition, 1999), The Oxford History of the French Revolution (1989), Venality. The Sale of Offices in eighteenth century France (1996), and Jansenism (2000).