The French are present throughout Mme de Staël's works, so much so that scholars do not think of studying them in their own right, in the way that the Germans and Italians and other peoples have been studied. Simone Balayé has chosen to consider the social and political development of French society as Mme de Staël experienced and observed it, from the Ancien Régime, the Revolution and the Empire down to the Restoration.

The French are present throughout Mme de Staël's works, so much so that scholars do not think of studying them in their own right, in the way that the Germans and Italians and other peoples have been studied. Simone Balayé has chosen to consider the social and political development of French society as Mme de Staël experienced and observed it, from the Ancien Régime, the Revolution and the Empire down to the Restoration.