How did the French bourgeoisie consolidate its political and social dominance in the century following the 1789 Revolution? Roger Magraw, a historian specializing in French social history, utilizes recent scholarship to analyze the strategies employed by the middle class to reshape French society. The work argues that the bourgeoisie successfully navigated resistance from both traditional aristocratic elites and the emerging popular classes to establish a new national order.

Historians recognize this work as a significant synthesis of 19th-century French social history that effectively incorporates diverse research perspectives. Readers frequently note the clarity of the prose, which makes complex class dynamics accessible to both students and scholars of European history.