The Red City: Limoges and the French Nineteenth Century

by John M. Merriman

This imaginative study recaptures 100 years in the life of Limoges, France's first socialist city, at a time when Limoges rode high on the crest of every wave of social, political, and industrial change. The story of this single city is the story of urban transformation and political
radicalism in 19th-century France, of the struggle between tradition and modernity in French society and politics that took place not only within cities but also between cities and the countryside. Here, Merriman offers vivid portraits of particular social groups, neighborhoods, and events in
19th-century Limoges to describe and analyze the impact of large-scale industrialization, the social bases of political conflict, and the eventual emergence of a powerful working class. The central characters of Merriman's study are the very ordinary denizens of this extraordinary city--its
butchers, porcelain workers, laundresses, priests--through whom one sees the effects of urbanizaiton and industrialization on their quarters, work, religion, culture, and political life. The close of the 19th century marked the end of one of France's last truly revolutionary situations, concludes
Merriman, as growing centralization dampened revolutionary zeal and the 20th century ushered in a combination of industrial capitalism and a powerful state that was seemingly invulnerable to revolutionary challenges from the working class.

Genres: History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

John Mustard Merriman was Charles Seymour Professor of History at Yale University. He earned his B.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1972) at the University of Michigan. Merriman received Yale University’s Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize in 2000, and was awarded a Docteur Honoris Causa in France in 2002, and the “Medal of Meritorious Service to Polish Education” (Medal Kimisji Edukacji Narodowej) awarded by the Ministry of Education of Poland in 2009.