Place and Locality in Modern France analyses the significance and changing constructions of local place in modern France. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars from around the world, this book provides a timely overview of the cross-disciplinary thinking that is currently taking place over a central issue in French history.

The contributed chapters address a range of subjects that include:

the politics of administrative reform, decentralization, regionalism and local advocacy;

the role of commerce in engendering narratives and experience of local place;

the importance of ethnic, class, gender and race distinctions in shaping local connection and identity;

the generation and transmission of knowledge about local place and culture through academia, civic heritage and popular memory.

As a reconsideration of the 'local' in French history, Place and Locality in Modern France bridges the divide between micro- and macro-history for all those interested in ideas of locality and culture in modern French and European history.

Philip Whalen is Professor of History at Coastal Carolina University, USA.

Patrick Young is Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, USA.