Historians have, almost by definition, a fascination with transformations. Peter Sahlins is clearly no exception. Sahlin's superb new book on Old Regime France explores two related 'passages': one an alternation in personal identity regularly accomplished almost entirely through routine paperwork, the other a change in the relationship between subjects and the state that even the Revolution of 1789 could not fully secure. Together, he argues, these incommensurate transformations shaped what is meant to be French across the dividing line of the early modern and modern eras.... This book should become a standard work for students of French history and, indeed, for all historians concerned with how to write the history of immigration, foreignness, nationality, and citizenship before the age of passports, work permits, and border patrols.
Sophia Rosenfeld, University of Virginia
American Historical Review
There can be no doubt that this is a book of major significance.... Wide in scope, thoroughly researched, brilliantly argued, and lucidly written, this work tells the story better than it has ever been told before and constitutes the most substantial integral history of early modern French naturalization and citizenship to date.
Thomas E. Kaiser, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
H-France
This book, destined to be a classic, raises important questions on the nature of the absolute and revolutionary state and on the citizenship revolution that Sahlins dates to the 1750s. The contradictions inherent in the absolute state are illuminated in the jostling between fiscal imperatives and commercial interests and in the contest between international public law and private civil law.... Grounded in the archives, this magisterial work sits at the intersection of legal, social, and political history but does not neglect the international dimensions. This book will appeal to professional historians in a number of fields. Case studies from the archives enliven the book as clerics struggle for benefices, some of the Protestant diaspora seek inheritances, lawyers construct legal fictions, the desperate resort to lies, diplomats deal with the intended and unintended results of international agreements, kings assert their authority, and revolutionaries debate the meaning of citizenship.
Linda Frey, University of Montana
History
This is a detailed, meticulous study that should shift the paradigms of the study of citizenship and nationality.
Choice