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siria's review
3.0
This is a study of agricultural organisation in France from the early medieval period through to the French Revolution, in which Bloch discusses not just agricultural techniques (such as the development of ploughs which can deal with heavier soil types) but also the changing nature of social and legal norms and customs. When this book was first published, in the 1930s, Bloch's use of early modern cartographical evidence to uncover something about medieval land usage and topography was still a relatively new technique; it's a measure of Bloch's influence just how much of what he writes here now seems standard. Of course, there's a lot that also seems quite dated in terms of both methodology and conclusion. Bloch sets out to describe the "original" characteristics of pre-industrial agrarian civilisation in France, and in the last few decades I think social historians have learned to be rightfully wary of static "template" civilisations like that. Still worth a read if you're interested in rural/agricultural history, though.
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