This work investigates the socio-political role and ideological motivations of the Parisian sans-culottes during the most radical phase of the French Revolution. Albert Soboul, a preeminent Marxist historian of the French Revolution, utilizes extensive archival research and police records to reconstruct the daily lives and political demands of the urban working class. He argues that the sans-culottes were not merely a chaotic mob, but a structured political force whose pressure on the Jacobin government was essential to the survival of the Republic during the Terror.

Historians widely regard this text as a foundational study for understanding the social dynamics of the French Revolution from a bottom-up perspective. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which assumes a high level of familiarity with the political factions of the period.