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"An exceptional collection of essays, at once theoretically sophisticated and empirically sound. . . . The articles are accessible . . . and allow for discussion of different approaches to historical problems."--Patricia O'Brien, University of California, IrvineThe location of authority proved transitory and elusive in France from the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789 through the Third Republic. This instability, far from having a destructive effect, created unprecedented opportunities for diverse groups to articulate new claims and aspirations. The essays in this volume analyze the struggle for political and cultural authority that unfolded during the revolutionary decade 1789-1799 and then continued throughout the nineteenth-century. They demonstrate that the Revolution created symbols and vocabularies that became persistent and often bitterly contested elements of a new political culture. Interdisciplinary in approach, this volume presents the work of a new generation of scholars of the French Revolution. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Leora Auslander, Suzanne Desan, James H. Johnson, Catherine J. Kudlick, and Michael A. Osborne. It will interest not only French historians but also students of women's history, literary criticism, and the history of science.