French

An incisive, comparative study of the development of Post-World War II progressive politics in Britain, France, and the United States   Toward the end of World War II, the three democracies faced a common choice: return to the civic order of prewar normalcy or embark instead on a path of progressive transformation. In this ambitious and original work, Isser Woloch assesses the progressive agendas that crystallized in each of the allied democracies: their roots in the interwar decades, their development during wartime, the struggles to enact them in the early postwar years, and the mixed outcomes in each country. The Postwar Moment examines three progressive postwar manifestos that reveal a common agenda in the three nations. The issues at stake included priorities for reconstruction or reconversion; "full employment" via economic planning; price controls; the roles of trade unions; expansion of social security; national health care; public housing; and educational reform. A highly regarded scholar of European history, Woloch persuasively adds the United States to a discussion that is usually focused solely on Europe.

"Each day of my life has been dedicated in part to drawing. I have never stopped drawing and painting, seeking, where I could find them, the secrets of form."--Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965), is famous for transforming 20th-century architecture and urbanism. Less attention has been paid to his artistic production, although he began his career as a painter. Le Corbusier indeed studied under Charles L'Éplattenier and, together with the artist Amédée Ozenfant, founded the Purist movement in the manifesto After Cubism. Even after Le Corbusier turned to architecture, he continued to paint and draw. His thousands of drawings, rarely exhibited but meticulously stored in two watch cabinets from his family home, were particularly significant; he considered his work as a draftsman to be fundamental to his creative process.   Beautifully illustrated with more than 300 drawings that have never before been published for an English readership, this revealing book charts the evolution of Le Corbusier's process from his youthful travels abroad to his arrival and maturation in Paris. Danièle Pauly shows how his drawings functioned within an intimate zone of private reflection and situates his work within the broader artistic and intellectual currents of Cubism, Purism, Primitivism, and Surrealism. In addition to providing a crucial new background against which to comprehend Le Corbusier's architecture and urbanism, this important volume advocates for understanding him alongside leading modern artists including Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger.

How the legacy of monarchical empires shaped Britain, France, Spain, and the United States as they became liberal entities Historians view the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a turning point when imperial monarchies collapsed and modern nations emerged. Treating this pivotal moment as a bridge rather than a break, The Imperial Nation offers a sweeping examination of four of these modern powers--Great Britain, France, Spain, and the United States--and asks how, after the great revolutionary cycle in Europe and America, the history of monarchical empires shaped these new nations. Josep Fradera explores this transition, paying particular attention to the relations between imperial centers and their sovereign territories and the constant and changing distinctions placed between citizens and subjects. Fradera argues that the essential struggle that lasted from the Seven Years' War to the twentieth century was over the governance of dispersed and varied peoples: each empire tried to ensure domination through subordinate representation or by denying any representation at all. The most common approach echoed Napoleon's "special laws," which allowed France to reinstate slavery in its Caribbean possessions. The Spanish and Portuguese constitutions adopted "specialness" in the 1830s; the United States used comparable guidelines to distinguish between states, territories, and Indian reservations; and the British similarly ruled their dominions and colonies. In all these empires, the mix of indigenous peoples, European-origin populations, slaves and indentured workers, immigrants, and unassimilated social groups led to unequal and hierarchical political relations. Fradera considers not only political and constitutional transformations but also their social underpinnings. Presenting a fresh perspective on the ways in which nations descended and evolved from and throughout empires, The Imperial Nation highlights the ramifications of this entangled history for the subjects who lived in its shadows.

First English translation of critically-acclaimed book opens the door to the fascinating universe of fashion. This book is not just a history of fashion from the early days of the creation of dressmaking fashion to the development of ready-to-wear manufacturing and the global enterprise it is today. Its ambition is to be the story of the creation, the evolution, and the implosion of the fashion related professions. With readable, highly-informative, and entertaining text--coupled with stunning photography--this book offers valuable insights into a profession which, unlike any other social body, is determined as much by its origins as by its economic context. Didier Grumbach walks you down the runways of fashion history and unfolds the secrets of the industry with stories and accounts from those who have played an active part in its development from the 1920s to the present. And he knows what he is talking about: he was born, grew up and made his mark in the circle that he opens for us here. For decades, he has collected archives, met with witnesses, interacted with the most influential players, and opened doors which are normally kept firmly shut. In his international bestseller, he finally offers us a 20th century illustrated history of fashion like no other--a saga, a family business, with noble fathers, prodigal sons, enthusiasms, passions, hatreds, strokes of genius and, of course, failures. The heroes are Dior, Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Sonia Rykiel, Prada, Hermès, and others. Their adventures are presented in an innovative chronological--and logical--order. From haute couture to the boom in ready-to-wear, the clothing industry, creators and designers, we witness the evolution in techniques, the shifting trends in the market, how an art matures and a culture changes. We also discover how the French ventured out of Paris to meet New York, London, Tokyo and Beijing. This book is a must for fashion lovers, professionals, and students who will find a thousand references never before presented. It will also enlighten the curious reader who wishes to go behind the scenes of this most seductive of theatres.

Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270 and twice crusader, was canonized in 1297. He was the last king canonized during the medieval period, and was both one of the most important saints and one of the most important kings of the later Middle Ages. In Blessed Louis, the Most Glorious of Kings: Texts Relating to the Cult of Saint Louis of France, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin presents six previously untranslated texts that informed medieval views of St. Louis IX: two little-known but early and important vitae of Saint Louis; two unedited sermons by the Parisian preacher Jacob of Lausanne (d. 1322); and a liturgical office and proper mass in his honor?the most commonly used liturgical texts composed for Louis? feast day?which were widely copied, read, and disseminated in the Middle Ages. Gaposchkin?s aim is to present to a diverse readership the Louis as he was known and experienced in the Middle Ages: a saint celebrated by the faithful for his virtue and his deeds. She offers for the first time to English readers a typical hagiographical view of Saint Louis, one in counterbalance to that set forth in Jean of Joinville?s Life of Saint Louis. Although Joinville?s Life has dominated our views of Louis, Joinville?s famous account was virtually unknown beyond the French royal court in the Middle Ages and was not printed until the sixteenth century. His portrayal of Louis as an individual and deeply charismatic personality is remarkable, but it is fundamentally unrepresentative of the medieval understanding of Louis. The texts that Gaposchkin translates give immediate access to the reasons why medieval Christians took Louis to be a saint; the texts, and the image of Saint Louis presented in them, she argues, must be understood within the context of the developing history of sanctity and sainthood at the end of the Middle Ages. "With Blessed Louis, the Most Glorious of Kings, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin makes a ground-breaking contribution to the fields of medieval history, hagiography, and historical memory. Of the five main texts she edits and translates here, four are appearing in print for the first time, and none has ever before been translated into English. These exciting new texts give us a fresh understanding of how St. Louis was represented in the century after his canonization." --Sean L. Field, University of Vermont