Book excerpt: "The revolution of July 1830 brought Louis-Philippe to the throne as King of the French; eighteen years later he and his government were driven out by the revolution of 1848. The intervening period - "The July Monarch" - has been strangely neglected by historians, yet it is crucial to an understanding of the development of modern France, and its personalities, complexities and contradictions are of absorbing interest in their own right. This important new book is the only modern study in English to survey the whole period in detail. It centres on political and diplomatic history, but also offers thoughtful analyses of the society, culture and economy of the age; and it provides the necessary context for evaluating such important figures as Talleyrand, Lafayette, Guizot, Thiers, de Tocqueville, Lamartine, Hugo, Daumier, Delacroix, Berlioz and the King himself. The book begins by depicting the fragmentation of French society following the July Revolution itself. These divisions were to remain fundamental to the whole period. Even as they took up the task of revising their constitution, Frenchmen fell out over what the revolution had actually meant. During the July Monarchy all aspects of life seemed to emerge as battlegrounds: socialism arose to confront older loyalties like legitimism; economic development increased the gap between rich and poor; liberal Catholics clashed with the more orthodox. A fractious press heightened these antagonisms; and, above all else, the French came to believe in a 'mal du siecle', and conclude that life was better in the past." -- Book jacket