Press and Politics in Pre-Revolutionary France

Press and Politics in Pre-Revolutionary France offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the role of the press in shaping public opinion and political culture in eighteenth-century France. Traditionally, historians have viewed the French Revolution as a sharp break in press history, marking the transition from an authoritarian model under the monarchy to an unregulated, libertarian press after 1789. However, this collection of essays argues that the transformation was more gradual, with significant elements of a free press emerging well before the Revolution. By examining periodicals that operated outside the official framework—such as the Gazette de Leyde, the Courrier d'Avignon, and the Journal des dames—the contributors reveal a vibrant, semi-independent press that helped shape the political discourse of the era.

This volume situates the pre-revolutionary press within a broader historiographical debate about the nature of the French Revolution itself. Were the upheavals of 1789 a radical break with the past, or did they build upon long-standing political and cultural shifts? The authors make a compelling case for continuity, showing how informal mechanisms of political engagement—through the press, reading groups, and Masonic lodges—created a space for public debate that eroded absolutist control well before the Revolution. With its meticulous case studies and theoretical insights, Press and Politics in Pre-Revolutionary France is an essential resource for scholars of media history, political culture, and the origins of modern democracy.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1987.