Marianne into Battle: Republican Imagery and Symbolism in France, 1789-1880

This book addresses the representation of the French Republic in the form of women: sculptures and paintings, theatrical exhibitions and town hall busts, caricatures and postage stamps, female myths that are deified or mocked, from the "Goddess" to the "Wench", including Marianne. This study is at the crossroads of three histories - political history, the history of art, and the history of mentalities - and it attempts to clarify their elements of correspondence and discordance. Maurice Agulhon sheds light on the ambiguous richness of our idea of the Republic, torn between identification with France as a nation-state and identification with the popular and democratic movement.