Author Description

Offers a synthesis of recent feminist historiography and a recasting of our understanding of European history. The text focuses on the analysis of gender, in relation not only to the ways in which ideas about masculinity and femininity have been constructed, but also to their importance in major political and social developments. It traces the history of the construction of gender identities during the "long" 19th century, from the French Revolution to the end of World War One. It relates concepts of gender to issues of class, ethnicity and race in order to reconsider some of the major themes of European history, including the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, patterns of industrialization and social change, revolutions, nationalism, imperialism and war.