Table of Contents

List of MapsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroduction3Pt. 1The Institutional Crisis of the Old RegimeCh. 1Towns and the Old Regime21Ch. 2The New Division of the Kingdom84Ch. 3Urban Crisis and Bourgeois Ambition111Pt. 2The Rhetoric and Politics of SpaceCh. 4The Rhetoric of Contention145Ch. 5The Politics of Parochialism178Ch. 6Urban Rivalries and the Formation of Departments220Ch. 7Disputes over the Seats of Departments257Ch. 8The Struggle for Districts and Tribunals287Pt. 3The Fate of Small TownsCh. 9Judicial Reform and the Politicization of Urban Rivalries327Ch. 10The New Urban Hierarchy368Ch. 11The French Revolution and Urban Growth in the Nineteenth Century396Conclusion442Appendix 1: Statistical Procedures457Appendix 2: Population Size Estimates and Institutional Characteristics of Major Towns463Bibliography467Index of Place Names487General Index499