Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Modern Republicanism and Revolution 2. Happiness Universal? Commercial Republicanism and Revolution 3. The Agricultural Republic as Rhetoric and Practice 4. Big Theories and Small Farms 5. Learning to Be Free: The Educational System of the Commercial Republic 6. Dance Like Republican: Public Culture, Religion, and the Arts Conclusion Notes Index
An important and timely book. There has been a stirring among historians of the Revolution to rethink the 1794-1799 period, but James Livesey is the first to examine in any depth its contribution to the making of "modern" democracy. It will be controversial because it significantly advances our knowledge and insight in areas where others failed to tread. What more could we ask? -- Christopher H. Johnson, Wayne State University A singularly original study of the French Revolution's ultimately failed project to imagine, articulate, and build a republican democracy. James Livesey obliterates numerous conventional borders and categories in writing about the Revolution. There is much to learn here about the history of ideas, symbolic representations, government debates and policies, and partisan politics. This is a bold and free-ranging work, warranting the oft-abused term "brilliant." -- Isser Woloch, Columbia University This important book promises to be a landmark in the history of its field. James Livesey's thoughtful claim is that terroristic Jacobinism was not--as has often been assumed--the procrustean mold of French Republicanism. He shows that neo-Jacobin thinking during the Directory in 1795-1799 was a sophisticated and wide-ranging effort to rethink Republican theory and to create a new "language of democracy." This is a striking work that rewrites the history of French Revolutionary politics and locates this period in a frame of North Atlantic thinking that ranges from Scotland and France to Ireland and the New World. -- Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University, author of Goodness beyond Virtue
James Livesey is Professor of Global History at the University of Dundee.
An important and timely book. There has been a stirring among
historians of the Revolution to rethink the 1794-1799 period, but
James Livesey is the first to examine in any depth its contribution
to the making of "modern" democracy. It will be controversial
because it significantly advances our knowledge and insight in
areas where others failed to tread. What more could we ask?
*Christopher H. Johnson, Wayne State University*
A singularly original study of the French Revolution's ultimately
failed project to imagine, articulate, and build a republican
democracy. James Livesey obliterates numerous conventional borders
and categories in writing about the Revolution. There is much to
learn here about the history of ideas, symbolic representations,
government debates and policies, and partisan politics. This is a
bold and free-ranging work, warranting the oft-abused term
"brilliant."
*Isser Woloch, Columbia University*
This important book promises to be a landmark in the history of its
field. James Livesey's thoughtful claim is that terroristic
Jacobinism was not--as has often been assumed--the procrustean mold
of French Republicanism. He shows that neo-Jacobin thinking during
the Directory in 1795-1799 was a sophisticated and wide-ranging
effort to rethink Republican theory and to create a new "language
of democracy." This is a striking work that rewrites the history of
French Revolutionary politics and locates this period in a frame of
North Atlantic thinking that ranges from Scotland and France to
Ireland and the New World.
*Patrice Higonnet, Harvard University, author of Goodness beyond
Virtue*
After noting that the French Revolution is no longer an
inspiration, Livesey...assumes the imposing task of reassessing the
revolution to demonstrate that it continues to be relevant for an
understanding of modern politics and society. He believes that the
revolution created the European model of democracy that established
values different from those found in Anglo-American liberal
democracy...Livesey develops several case studies focusing on
economic, educational, and cultural issues. His discussion of the
movement for the breakup of communal land, partage...is especially
fascinating. He creatively utilizes archival sources about
relatively mundane matters, and exhibits a mastery over a wide
range of pertinent secondary literature...Livesey has produced a
distinguished intellectual history.
*Choice*
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