Alan Forrest's authoritative study of Aquitaine ... concentrates on individual actors in the Revolutionary drama, as well as on the particularism of certain regions.
Times Literary Supplement
This book is based on a wide range of secondary sources supplemented by documents from archival series in Paris and the seven department capitals of the southwest. Forrest deftly weaves this material into a sturdy text that is sensitive to the many differences of experience across the area even while it facilitates comparison with other regions ... a smooth blend of venerable older scholarship and more recent historiographical concerns ... it is realy novices locked in a Paris-centred understanding of the revolution who will reap the greatest rewards from this book's richly provincial point of view
Howard G Brown, Journal of Modern History, Vol 71, no 3, September 1999
The author presents us with a work which sets a wealth of local detail within the broader context of the revolution. It is very refreshing to read this sort of writing.
Emma Vincent MacLeod, History Vol.85 no.277
Beginning with the period before the revolution and continuing through the Directory, Forrest provides a careful, well-documented study of the impact of these tumultuous years on one French province. This study is an excellent addition to regional histories of the revolution. Forrest does well in navigating the reader through the maze of local politics and their importance in determining a village or town's reaction and events. in addition, he provides maps so that the reader can follow the geographic and political divisions and their association with the variations in responses to the revolution. Most importantly, The Revolution in Provincial France reminds us that this period was not only played out in Paris and provincial cities, but also in the most remote parts of the hexagon.
Cynthia S. Bisson, The Historian, Vol.61 No.3