Les Bourgeois de Rouen

What is a " bourgeois " ? In spite of the condemnations of Marx or the sarcasm of Flaubert, we do not know much about this essentiai character which dominated the 19th century. Leaving aside literary clichés or doctrinal preconceptions, the author, through an exhaustive study of a concrète case — the bourgeois of Rouen front 1800 to 1914 — has attempted to grasp the reality of this social group. Focusing first on what constituted the leading urban élite, he shows, using a cross-system of varied criteria, their long ancestry and their upward mobility, and develops the sagas of the main families. After a detailed analysis of their fortunes and their ways of living (housing, social life, culture), the study illustrâtes thèse Norman bourgeois' mentalities through their religious behavior and their social attitudes, concluding with a gênerai, secular record of their urban management