From the fall of the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon, Paris was the stage for most of the greatest crises of the French Revolution. Indeed, for many historians, the Revolution was a distinctly Parisian phenomenon, restricted to the galleries of the Tuileries and the chambers of the Jacobin Club. But Paris was only one setting for a national terror which was frequently and painfully felt outside the capital. What happened during these momentous years beyond Paris? How did the revolution spread from the capital and how did it affect people living in the provinces? Drawing on newly discovered and unpublished sources which cast fresh light on the lives of everyday men and women caught up in the revolutionary ferment, "The Unseen Terror" vividly portrays the impact of revolution in the French provinces. Focusing on the Charente-Maritime department on the west coast, Richard Ballard explores the course of the Revolution outside the palaces and prisons of the capital, reclaiming the pivotal but long-neglected stories of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary tensions in the French countryside."The Unseen Terror" offers many illuminating insights into how and why the revolution took hold so far away from the French capital. It offers a unique glimpse of the violent events of the Revolution 'from below' and is a rich and important contribution to a fuller understanding of French history.

Map of the Charente-Inférieure Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Chronological Table; Notes on Money and Government Foreword Introduction: A Revolution Led by Lawyers Part One: An Unforeseen Revolution1. The Old Order Changes 2. Elections, Grievances and Feudal Dues Part Two: Revolution Becomes Terror3. A Representative of the People 4. The Terror in Saintes 5. La Rochelle becomes a Frontier Town 6. La Rochelle in Wartime 7. Lequinio's Rochefort 8. Internment in Brouage Part Three: A Redundant Church 9. The End of the Bishop of Saintes 10. A Tribulation of Oath Takers 11. National Property and Closed Convents 12. Disappearing Priests 13. Persecution and Reinstatement Part Four: Revolution in One Village 14. Hope and Disillusion 15. War and Education Conclusion: An Eye to the Future Bibliography Index