Hilton L. Root

This is a special historical book which successfully uses a study of local small-scale events to challenge prevailing assumptions about a much bigger event. The big event is the French revolution and the assumption is that "the absolutist state collaborated with the kingdom's elites by sharing the spoils of surplus peasant production" (p.228). To counter this assumption the author studies the politics of agriculture and taxation in Burgundy and reveals the shared objectives of village communities and state officials in opposition to local elites. It was in the interest of the state to deal with villages as communities because individual taxation would have been too costly or even impossible to implement. The revolutionary agenda gradually emerged from the growing ability of villages to defend their own interests, but the defence was initially aimed against the local elites, not the state.

As a serious work of history this book is not an easy read and the author is careful not to over-emphasize his conclusions. The coming revolution remains in the background. At times the debates he recounts about village rights seem a bit insignificant and uninteresting, but all in all I think he builds a strong argument, so the book rewards perseverence. Original counterarguments like this one are always worth reading.… (mer)