Can anyone recommend the perfect 19th century history book?

[delirifacient]

I'm looking for a brief overview of the 19th century for my upcoming comp. I'm focusing on 19th c France and would like to find a volume that covers both French developments and the place of France in the world at large. I'm treating le conte fantastique for my thesis and have been researching the place of the conte amidst Enlightenment thought,

Comments

[landscapedmind]

These are two you might want to try. . .

McPhee, Peter. A Social History of France 1780-1880. New York: Routledge, 1992.

Weber, Eugene. France Fin de Siecle. (Can't remember the rest of the bilblio. info.)

They're both pretty oldish but they're a good place to start. I have others that might work, but I'll have to go searching in the catacombs of my bookshelves to find them. .

good luck!

[delirifacient]

Thanks a million!

[jerseyfille]

I know I can recommend something, it just may take some time seeing as all my books are currently wasting away in storage. But seeing as how 19th cent France was my speciality in my former grad student life, I theoretically should be able to come up with something!

[jerseyfille]

ok, while I can't think of exactly what you're looking for, here are some other books that may help:

The French Short Story in the 19th century, Murray Sachs

Paris and the 19th century (writing the city), Christopher Prendergast

Paris as Revolution: Writing the 19th century city, Priscilla Parkhurst Freguson

Hope this helps! I took a course on your thesis topic in undergrad with a great professor and found it really fascinating and, had I continued with French lit. studies, might have looked at it more.

[delirifacient]

Thanks! Those are really helpful titles-- I really appreciate it!

[pansette]

Is there a Blackwell's Guide to 19th c French history?

They tend to be a great tool for understanding the historiography, etc.