1st Edition

The French Press in the Age of Enlightenment

By Jack Censer Copyright 1994
    276 Pages
    by Routledge

    276 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 2004. The ideas of the Enlightenment and belligerent royal officials critically influenced the French Revolution, but how did an entire generation learn about such ideas prior to the Revolution? Jack R. Censer’s achievement in this volume is to marshal a vast literature in order to provide a coherent and original interpretation of the role of the French Press in the dissemination of social and political ideas in the years leading up to the Revolution. Censer also explores the relationship between journalists and government officials and unearths a range of sophisticated censorship techniques employed by the government to keep Bad News off the front pages. In a field dominated by specialized studies but few generalizations, The French Press in the Age of Enlightenment provides a bold synthesis regarding the periodical press from mid-century to the Revolution.

    INTRODUCTION: THE PERIODICAL PRESS Part I Content 1 THE POLITICAL PRESS 2 THE AFFICHES 3 THE LITERARY—PHILOSOPHICAL PRESS Part II Milieu 4 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY JOURNALISM AND ITS PERSONNEL 5 THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AND THE PERIODICAL 6 THE READERSHIP, CONCLUSION

    Biography

    Jack R. Censer is Professor of History at George Mason University. His most recent publications include The French Revolution and Intellectual History (1989), and he is series editor of Rewriting Histories.

    `Censer's book is a felicitous blend of comprehensive reading of secondary sources and his own research. ... Blending perceptive synthesis and original research, The French Press in the Age of the Enlightenment will instruct and challenge readers for many years to come.' – Harvey Chisick Haifa University