First published in 1984. Shopkeepers and master artisans had a striking presence in the history of nineteenth-century Europe, not only in the development of industrial and urban economies, but also the fabric of social life and the politics of protest. The experience of 1848, the differing pace of various forms of nationalism and liberalism and, at the end of the century, the shift towards right-wing nationalist or Catholic political movements reflected a developing 'crisis' in the petite bourgeoisie. The essays examine the nature of this crisis and ask critical questions about the social relations of the petite bourgeoisie with the developing working classes. This book as a whole provides a fresh and integrated approach to the world of these shopkeepers and master artisans and illuminates much else besides in the social history of nineteenth-century Europe.

List of tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Shopkeepers, master artisans and the historian: the petite bourgeoisie in comparative focus; National Perspectives; 2. Between resignation and volatility: the German petite bourgeoisie in the nineteenth century 3. The petite bourgeoisie in nineteenth-century Britain: the urban and liberal case 4. The petite bourgeoisie in France, 1850-1914: in search of the juste milieu? 5. A forgotten class: the petite bourgeoisie in Belgium, 1850-1914; The Research Focus; 6. Masters and manufacturers: social values and the smaller unit of production in Birmingham, 1800-50 7. The grocery trade in nineteenth-century Paris: a fragmented corporation 8. The small shopkeepers' movement and politics in France, 1988-1914 9. The artisan family in nineteenth-century Austria: embourgeoisement of the petite bourgeoisie? 10. Rural artisans in the Beauce during the nineteenth century 11. Shopkeepers and the state in Britain, 1870-1914; Index