An illuminating exploration of the tensions between self and society in the age of revolutions
The eighteenth century was a time of cultural friction: individuals began to assert greater independence and there was a new emphasis on social equality. In this surprising history, Lynn Hunt examines women’s expanding societal roles, such as using tea to facilitate conversation between the sexes in Britain. In France, women also pushed boundaries by becoming artists, and printmakers’ satiric takes on the elite gave the lower classes a chance to laugh at the upper classes and imagine the potential of political upheaval. Hunt also explores how promotion in French revolutionary armies was based on men’s singular capabilities, rather than noble blood, and how the invention of financial instruments such as life insurance and national debt related to a changing idea of national identity. Wide-ranging and thought-provoking, The Revolutionary Self is a fascinating exploration of the conflict between individualism and the group ties that continues to shape our lives today.
Author: Hunt Lynn
Publisher: NORTON
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9781324079033
Cover: Hardback
Edition Number: 1
Release Year: 2025
Lynn Hunt is a world-renowned historian of Europe who has written numerous scholarly and popular history books. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages and read by tens of thousands of students across the globe. She is former President of the American Historical Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Philosophical Society, as well as Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.
Description
An illuminating exploration of the tensions between self and society in the age of revolutions
The eighteenth century was a time of cultural friction: individuals began to assert greater independence and there was a new emphasis on social equality. In this surprising history, Lynn Hunt examines women’s expanding societal roles, such as using tea to facilitate conversation between the sexes in Britain. In France, women also pushed boundaries by becoming artists, and printmakers’ satiric takes on the elite gave the lower classes a chance to laugh at the upper classes and imagine the potential of political upheaval. Hunt also explores how promotion in French revolutionary armies was based on men’s singular capabilities, rather than noble blood, and how the invention of financial instruments such as life insurance and national debt related to a changing idea of national identity. Wide-ranging and thought-provoking, The Revolutionary Self is a fascinating exploration of the conflict between individualism and the group ties that continues to shape our lives today.
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