France after Revolution

“This welcome and important book takes a novel approach to the little-studied topic of gender dynamics in early nineteenth-century France. Denise Davidson argues compellingly that public interactions between the sexes played a critical role in allaying the social anxiety wrought by the French Revolution. By analyzing male and female behavior in urban public spaces, she skillfully illustrates how certain gender ideals and class expectations came to underpin France’s new social order.”—Suzanne Desan, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“In a lively and original study, Davidson shows how residents of Lyon, Nantes, and Paris shaped their identity and social place in the political and cultural order of the post-Revolutionary world. Her keen attention to gender and class make it clear how the real lives of women and men often contradicted political, cultural, and discursive ideals. Firmly rooted in astute archival research, France after Revolution is a major contribution to urban social and cultural history.”—Rachel Fuchs, Arizona State University

“A compelling account of the gendering of spatial and social relations in the wake of the French Revolution. Davidson highlights the seemingly paradoxical ways in which social mixing—between men and women, ‘elite’ and ‘popular’ classes—served to at once unify and differentiate post-Revolutionary society. This book will appeal to historians of modern France, women’s and gender historians, and readers interested in performance and spectacle.”—Judith Surkis, Harvard University