Peasants Politicians and Producers

All of the agricultural pressure groups in early modern France were important in shaping the evolution of French farming in this century. The transformation of an isolated peasantry into highly efficient agricultural producers the role of the state in influencing agricultural modernization and the place of the European community in French political and agricultural life have been affected by an increasingly complex network of organizations that are the subject of Cleary''s book. Their history and geography is a revealing indicator of the social cultural and economic evolution of rural France. By combining an historical approach with a consideration of their contemporary role the book serves to elucidate their role in shaping the countryside of the future.