Letters from Revolutionary France

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Description

This work presents an annotated version of the letters of Major Watkin Tench, who was held on parole in the town of Quimper in Brittany between 1794-1795. Tench was writing in the period between the fall of Robespierre and the massacre of invading emigres south if Quimper in June 1795, a tense period in which deep-seated conflicts over religion and language were fuelling counter-revotionary uprisings in rural Brittany. His account illustrates and analyzes the volatile relationship between languages (English, French, Breton) and socio-political codes (republican and monarchist, genteel and plebian, Catholic and anticlerical) during the French Revolution.

Reviews

'The letters ... are an easy read, and provide an intriguing insight into how the provincial society of western Brittany was coping with the political uncertainty of the Thermidorian period ... a useful ... source for eyewitness information on this period.' Modern and Contemporary France 'Tench's letters will be of considerable interest to students of naval history...an interesting little book-something to be read in bed with a lot of rum. It comes with informative notes, appendices and a lengthy introduction, hallmarks of a good editor.' Times Literary Supplement

Author Bio

Gavin Edwards is a senior lecturer in literature at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Glamorgan. He is a former lecturer at the University of Wales, Lampeter and the University of Sydney. French and French studies is a particularly popular choice of subjects among students, and this first hand account of the French Revolution would make excellent background reading for any student studying in the field of literature, history or french.