Eighteen scholars from both sides of the Atlantic look at the question of work across three centuries of French history. Representing both younger and older generations, they move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries in order to consider human labor as it was actually performed and to determine what it has meant to specific groups and individuals at particular historical moments.

This book proposes some fundamental revisions in the history of work which will have important implications for our understanding of social, political, economic, and cultural developments not only in France but throughout Europe.