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The role of ordinary people in helping to shape the course of eighteenth century history has not received the attention it deserves. This book argues that the failure to deal with the social problems of expolitation and poverty explains, in large measure, the collapse of the ancien regime and the 'democratic revolution' of 1789-94.

There are three sections to the book:

• Section 1 deals with the basic religious, political, social and economic structures of the ancien regime in France at the time.
• Section 2 deals with the effect of the Enlightenment on the population.
• Section 3 covers the revolutionary decades of the 1780's and 90's.