Publisher's Synopsis
The term 'class' has been, and still is, a powerful historical concept. Its exact meaning, however, has remained elusive. In this illuminating study, P.M.Pilbeam compares the middle classes in four of the major states in continental Europe - France, Russia, Germany and Italy - from the French Revolution to the first world war, and reveals how complex any useful definition of class must be. '...a most valuable book, a model of what fruitful comparative history should be...Pilbeam's book succeeds brilliantly in summarising all significant research on the middle classes in France, Germany, Italy and Russia from the outbreak of the French Revolution to the First World War...an ideal guide to this subject at university level.' Journal of Historical Geography
