This book investigates the complex cultural and political motivations behind the nineteenth-century French revival of early music, specifically how historical repertoires were reinterpreted to serve contemporary national identity. Katharine Ellis, a noted musicologist, utilizes extensive archival research from Paris and regional centers to document the shift in public reception of composers like Handel and Bach. She argues that the interest in early music was not merely aesthetic but a strategic response to the socio-political climate following the Franco-Prussian War, bridging the gap between royalist and republican ideologies.

Experts recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the historiography of French musical culture. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the archival evidence presented.