Sarah Maza is Jane Long Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

This is a bold work on a big topic, based on wide erudition and deep reflection. Maza's consistent focus on what she calls "the social imaginary" enables her to stride with admirable briskness through the tangled landscape of this much studied and highly controversial era of French history. While not everyone will be convinced by Maza's claim that the French bourgeoisie did not exist, this book will transform the way we think about the problem.

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Is There a Class in This Text? 1. The Social Imaginary in Prerevolutionary France 2. Commerce, Luxury, and Family Love 3. Revolutionary Brotherhood and the War against Aristocracy 4. The Social World after Thermidor 5. The Political Birth of the Bourgeoisie, 1815-1830 6. The Failure of "Bourgeoisie Monarchy" Conclusion: The Bourgeois, the Jew, and the American Notes Index

Sarah Maza is Jane Long Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

This is a bold work on a big topic, based on wide erudition and deep reflection. Maza's consistent focus on what she calls "the social imaginary" enables her to stride with admirable briskness through the tangled landscape of this much studied and highly controversial era of French history. While not everyone will be convinced by Maza's claim that the French bourgeoisie did not exist, this book will transform the way we think about the problem.

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Is There a Class in This Text? 1. The Social Imaginary in Prerevolutionary France 2. Commerce, Luxury, and Family Love 3. Revolutionary Brotherhood and the War against Aristocracy 4. The Social World after Thermidor 5. The Political Birth of the Bourgeoisie, 1815-1830 6. The Failure of "Bourgeoisie Monarchy" Conclusion: The Bourgeois, the Jew, and the American Notes Index

Sarah Maza is Jane Long Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

This is a bold work on a big topic, based on wide erudition and deep reflection. Maza's consistent focus on what she calls "the social imaginary" enables her to stride with admirable briskness through the tangled landscape of this much studied and highly controversial era of French history. While not everyone will be convinced by Maza's claim that the French bourgeoisie did not exist, this book will transform the way we think about the problem.

• Acknowledgments Introduction: Is There a Class in This Text? 1. The Social Imaginary in Prerevolutionary France 2. Commerce, Luxury, and Family Love 3. Revolutionary Brotherhood and the War against Aristocracy 4. The Social World after Thermidor 5. The Political Birth of the Bourgeoisie, 1815-1830 6. The Failure of "Bourgeoisie Monarchy" Conclusion: The Bourgeois, the Jew, and the American Notes Index