-Phillip Nord has taken a large step forward. His painstaking study clearly charts the labyrinthine complexity of the interaction among threatened social status, economic decline and political-ideological self-expression.-
--Steven Englund, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
-Placing his study within the comparative framework of debates over the lower-middle class and its allegedly profascist nature, Nord shows convincingly that the league of Paris shopkeepers began in 1888 with the left's republican and anti-monopolistic convictions. . . . This is certainly a valuable study, a must for every serious academic library. Attractive illustrations, useful maps, a good bibliography and index, and full citations enhance this monograph.-
-- J.P. Mckay, Choice
-Philip Nord has written a very good book, if anything too good. . . . He listens attentively to his beleaguered shopkeepers and does much to make them credible. They wanted, he makes plain, a commercial, and thus, a social 'environment of mutual respect'. It is to [his] credit that he practices history with the same commitment.-
--Katherine Auspitz
-Nord's book is an important contribution to the history of Paris. It brilliantly evokes both the old city of artisans, shopkeepers, and commercial arcades and the new metropolis of glittering department stores and magnificent avenues. Any historian of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century France or of European society at the dawn of the contemporary period, will find it illuminating reading. . . . Students of other small-owner protest movements, whether of German shopkeepers or of American populist farmers, will have to be aware of [this] book.-
--Paul Spagnoli, Genesis
-Nord's argument is forceful as well as fascinating. . . . The book makes a convincing case for the open-ended significance of petit-bourgeois protest. The scope and quality of the research, its theoretical implications, and a readable style make this work an absorbing and first-rate piece of scholarship.-
--Elinpr Accampo, The Historian
-This substantial volume is the definitive study of the movement of an important segment of the Parisian petty bourgeoisie from the left to the right of the political spectrum at the turn of the century.-
--Mary Lynn Stewart, Canadian Journal of History
-Nord's book makes noteworthy contributions on several levels. He adds important qualifications to conventional views about the petty bourgeoisie that are based largely on the central European experience. The chapters on Parisian politics are the best guide to the radical right now available. The author links cultural reaction to urban change in a most interesting manner. Finally, the study demonstrates what -mass society- meant to an important segment of Frenchmen.-
--Lenard R. Berlanstein, Journal of Urban History
-Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history.-
- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Berkeley
"Phillip Nord has taken a large step forward. His painstaking study clearly charts the labyrinthine complexity of the interaction among threatened social status, economic decline and political-ideological self-expression."
--Steven Englund, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
"Placing his study within the comparative framework of debates over the lower-middle class and its allegedly profascist nature, Nord shows convincingly that the league of Paris shopkeepers began in 1888 with the left's republican and anti-monopolistic convictions. . . . This is certainly a valuable study, a must for every serious academic library. Attractive illustrations, useful maps, a good bibliography and index, and full citations enhance this monograph."
-- J.P. Mckay, Choice
"Philip Nord has written a very good book, if anything too good. . . . He listens attentively to his beleaguered shopkeepers and does much to make them credible. They wanted, he makes plain, a commercial, and thus, a social 'environment of mutual respect'. It is to [his] credit that he practices history with the same commitment."
--Katherine Auspitz
"Nord's book is an important contribution to the history of Paris. It brilliantly evokes both the old city of artisans, shopkeepers, and commercial arcades and the new metropolis of glittering department stores and magnificent avenues. Any historian of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century France or of European society at the dawn of the contemporary period, will find it illuminating reading. . . . Students of other small-owner protest movements, whether of German shopkeepers or of American populist farmers, will have to be aware of [this] book."
--Paul Spagnoli, Genesis
"Nord's argument is forceful as well as fascinating. . . . The book makes a convincing case for the open-ended significance of petit-bourgeois protest. The scope and quality of the research, its theoretical implications, and a readable style make this work an absorbing and first-rate piece of scholarship."
--Elinpr Accampo, The Historian
"This substantial volume is the definitive study of the movement of an important segment of the Parisian petty bourgeoisie from the left to the right of the political spectrum at the turn of the century."
--Mary Lynn Stewart, Canadian Journal of History
"Nord's book makes noteworthy contributions on several levels. He adds important qualifications to conventional views about the petty bourgeoisie that are based largely on the central European experience. The chapters on Parisian politics are the best guide to the radical right now available. The author links cultural reaction to urban change in a most interesting manner. Finally, the study demonstrates what "mass society" meant to an important segment of Frenchmen."
--Lenard R. Berlanstein, Journal of Urban History
"Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history."
- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Berkeley
"Phillip Nord has taken a large step forward. His painstaking study clearly charts the labyrinthine complexity of the interaction among threatened social status, economic decline and political-ideological self-expression."
--Steven Englund, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
"Placing his study within the comparative framework of debates over the lower-middle class and its allegedly profascist nature, Nord shows convincingly that the league of Paris shopkeepers began in 1888 with the left's republican and anti-monopolistic convictions. . . . This is certainly a valuable study, a must for every serious academic library. Attractive illustrations, useful maps, a good bibliography and index, and full citations enhance this monograph."
-- J.P. Mckay, Choice
"Philip Nord has written a very good book, if anything too good. . . . He listens attentively to his beleaguered shopkeepers and does much to make them credible. They wanted, he makes plain, a commercial, and thus, a social 'environment of mutual respect'. It is to [his] credit that he practices history with the same commitment."
--Katherine Auspitz
"Nord's book is an important contribution to the history of Paris. It brilliantly evokes both the old city of artisans, shopkeepers, and commercial arcades and the new metropolis of glittering department stores and magnificent avenues. Any historian of late nineteenth- and twentieth-century France or of European society at the dawn of the contemporary period, will find it illuminating reading. . . . Students of other small-owner protest movements, whether of German shopkeepers or of American populist farmers, will have to be aware of [this] book."
--Paul Spagnoli, Genesis
"Nord's argument is forceful as well as fascinating. . . . The book makes a convincing case for the open-ended significance of petit-bourgeois protest. The scope and quality of the research, its theoretical implications, and a readable style make this work an absorbing and first-rate piece of scholarship."
--Elinpr Accampo, The Historian
"This substantial volume is the definitive study of the movement of an important segment of the Parisian petty bourgeoisie from the left to the right of the political spectrum at the turn of the century."
--Mary Lynn Stewart, Canadian Journal of History
"Nord's book makes noteworthy contributions on several levels. He adds important qualifications to conventional views about the petty bourgeoisie that are based largely on the central European experience. The chapters on Parisian politics are the best guide to the radical right now available. The author links cultural reaction to urban change in a most interesting manner. Finally, the study demonstrates what "mass society" meant to an important segment of Frenchmen."
--Lenard R. Berlanstein, Journal of Urban History
"Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history."
- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Berkeley
"Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history."
- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Berkeley
"Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history."
- Lynn Hunt, University of California, Berkeley
"Nord succeeds in making sense out of a very confusing movement. This should be the definitive book on the shopkeeper movement in Paris, and the book to read on the lower middle class in France. The author writes in a fluid and entertaining fashion, and his work will interest those who follow French history in the modern period and connoisseurs of Parisian history."
