From the Book - First edition
Introduction: An early information society and collective consciousness
Part one: The mid-century crisis, 1748-1754. War and peace
A prince is mugged by order of the king
Songs bring down the government
The people seize the city
The politics of tax avoidance
The world of knowledge is mapped and suppressed
Part two: The expanding public sphere, 1762-1764. The peace is rained out
Rousseau releases a flood of tears
Voltaire occupies the high moral ground
Recycling royal mistresses
Part three: The turning point in politics, 1770-1775. Enter Marie-Antoinette, exit Choiseul
Beaumarchais has the last laugh
The king is dead, long live Maurepas
Part four: The ideological terrain, 1781-1786. The king's secret is revealed
Does everything end with songs?
The dark secrets of despotism
Did the cardinal try to cuckold the king?
The poor march on Versailles
Part five: Tremors, 1787. Battles on the Bourse
Despotism in the marriage bed
A minister runs for cover
The parlement plays politics
Part six: The collapse of the régime, 1788. A new coup, an old script
The ministers are roasted
Part seven: The eruption of the revolution, 1789. Summon the nation
Pamphlets and public noises
The nation seizes sovereignty
Conclusion: The revolutionary temper
Afterword: What was revolutionary about the French Revolution?