Studies in Modern French History Monograph Series.
Edited by Pam Pilbeam and Mark Greengrass.

The Society for the Study of French History monograph series, in collaboration with Manchester University Press, aims to publish the very best short monographs relating to the history of the French post 1750, in France and in the World. The objective is to publish a selection of the most innovative UK and North American recent dissertation work in revised form, intermixed with mature reflective works by established scholars. The Series publishes up to two hardback monographs of 80-100,000 words in length each year.

The first titles in the Series are as follows:-

Sophie Heywood (University of Edinburgh), Catholicism, Children’s Literature, and the Culture Wars in Nineteenth-Century France: The Case of the Comtesse de Ségur (Autumn 2011) [MUP site]
This book uses the French national icon and best-selling children’s author, the Comtesse de Ségur (1799-1874) as an exemplification of the dramatic cultural changes at work in nineteenth-century France. In a period of rising literary rates and falling book prices, the child-reader became the target of commercial interests, but also the focus of concern in secular and religious society about the innocent susceptibility of this new reading public. By studying the works, correspondence, and political activism of a single author, this book presents an important case study of how women as authors and mothers, and children as readers and consumers, were mobilised in the struggle for the nation’s soul.

Elizabeth C. Macknight (University of Aberdeen), Aristocratic Families in Republican France, 1870–1940 (Autumn 2011) [MUP site]
This study of nobles’ responses to transformations in the political, economic, and social environment of France between 1870 and 1940 documents their strategies to counter republican initiatives and to sustain conservative rearguard action against the Third Republic. The survival of the French nobility had long rested upon its ability to adapt to changing circumstances whilst preserving the integrity of the aristocratic lifestyle and traditions. This book shows the ways in which gender was involved in that process of adaptation, shaping families’ approaches to property ownership and inheritance, child rearing and education, marriage, and domestic service. For the first time, evidence from personal and family documents is used to demonstrate how aristocratic power survived in republican France because nobles knew how to exploit its gendered dimensions.


How to Purchase Titles in the Series?

Individual titles may be purchased directly from Manchester University Press. Members of the Society will be entitled to a 35% discount on orders for personal use on all titles. You should contact the Society’s Membership Secretary who will be able to provide you with the access code with which to place an order directly with the publishers’ distributors, NBN International at the discount price.

Do you wish to submit a manuscript for consideration?

The Editors and the Press are always willing to look at manuscript proposals at any stage. You should be aware that the series will only consider publishing monographs not exceeding 100,000 words in length. It will not normally publish edited collections or volumes of conference papers. Collaboratively authored works, however, are welcomed. The Editors will expect to receive a completed ‘Proposal Form’ and an accompanying CV. Please submit your completed proposals to either of the series editors:
Professor Pam Pilbeam (p.pilbeam@rhul.ac.uk) or
Professor Mark Greengrass (m.greengrass@sheffield.ac.uk).
The Proposal should normally be substantiated by up to three specimen chapters of the work in question. The Proposal will be initially considered by the Series Editors. You should expect to have their response within a period of six weeks from your initial submission. If they judge that it is appropriate for the Series, the proposal will be evaluated by up to three independent assessors. You may expect to receive some detailed response at that stage on the proposal, which is when the commitment to publish is made.

The following are the key criteria which the Editors and the Press take into account when arriving at their final decision:-
• The ability to identify and speak to a theme in the history of France which has broader resonances with other discourses about the past
• The capacity to reveal how sources about the French past can be opened up to historical investigation in new and interesting ways
• The potential for exploring new and unfamiliar historical subjects
• Inter-disciplinary studies that break down traditional boundaries and conventional disciplinary divisions
• The overall marketability of the proposal in the light of its scholarly excellence.

The Editors take their decisions independently of the Society and in collaboration with Manchester University Press. They serve for a period of five years in the first instance (2010-2015).

Additional Society Resources for Publication:

The Society has limited resources to assist in publication. These are at the discretion of the Society’s Trustees and should be applied for through the Society’s Publications Officer. They are intended to underwrite the ancillary costs of publication only (e.g. costs of illustrations, book-cover, etc).

August 2012