Society in Crisis is an in depth look at France in the sixteenth century. The first part, about a third of the book, considers the state of France in the first half of the century, with the focus on political and judicial institutions and, to a lesser extent, on economics. The second part is a military and political narrative history of the religious wars that wracked France during the second half of the century, but the stress on social history is also continued.

Society and Crisis is a dense and detailed work, with descriptions of individual families and statistics on such things as price changes and social mobility. A general knowledge of the political history of the period is pretty much assumed, though the glossary and chronology at the back make the book bearable for the novice.

May 1993

External links:

- buy from Amazon.co.uk

Related reviews:

- books about France + French history
- more social history