Overview

At the center of this book stands the story of a great but forgotten newspaper: the Gazette de Leyde, edited by Jean Luzac from 1772 to 1798. A French-language biweekly newspaper published in the Dutch city of Leiden from 1677 to 1811, the Gazette de Leyde was regarded as the international newspaper of record, occupying the cultural niche filled today by the New York Times and Le Monde.Jeremy D. Popkin reconstructs the Gazette's history, providing a comprehensive picture of the environment that produced it, how it gathered and printed its reports, its relationship with its readers, and the way it depicted the great events of three critical decades. In rich detail he shows that absolutist regimes often cooperated with the Gazette's editors, providing information and condoning its publication in open violation of their own censorship regimes.He also examines the Dutch context which fostered both the freedom that made the paper's publication possible and the technology and business skills that allowed for its rapid publication and successful marketing. In addition, he draws on a wide reading of the press of the period to compare the Gazette with other major newspapers. He concludes with a treatment of the paper's fortunes during the era of the French Revolution.

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The 'political culture' of the ancien regime is a subject that is increasingly attracting the attention of historians. Popkin's contribution to it is one they cannot afford to miss. --Journal of Modern History News and Politics in the Age of Revolution is a first-class study of the crucially important periodical Gazette de Leyde and of its extraordinary editor Jean Luzac, who provided through its pages some of the best, most astutely analytical political journalism of the late eighteenth century. Jeremy D. Popkin argues persuasively that the Gazette de Leyde maintained a special kind of superiority even after the revolution brought freedom of the press and hence a huge proliferation of papers onto the French market. Although the paper made no claims to represent public opinion, it certainly did its share to shape it and thus to guide events. --American Historical Review

The 'political culture' of the ancien r gime is a subject that is increasingly attracting the attention of historians. Popkin's contribution to it is one they cannot afford to miss. --Journal of Modern History News and Politics in the Age of Revolution is a first-class study of the crucially important periodical Gazette de Leyde and of its extraordinary editor Jean Luzac, who provided through its pages some of the best, most astutely analytical political journalism of the late eighteenth century. Jeremy D. Popkin argues persuasively that the Gazette de Leyde maintained a special kind of superiority even after the revolution brought freedom of the press and hence a huge proliferation of papers onto the French market. Although the paper made no claims to represent public opinion, it certainly did its share to shape it and thus to guide events. --American Historical Review

Author Information

Jeremy D. Popkin holds the William T. Bryan Chair of History at the University of Kentucky. He is the author of many books, including You Are All Free: The Haitian Revolution and the Abolition of Slavery and A Short History of the French Revolution.

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