{"product_id":"an-infinite-history-the-story-of-a-family-in-france-over-three-centuries-9780691200309","title":"An Infinite History: The Story of a Family in France Over Three Centuries","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn innovative history of deep social and economic changes in France, told through the story of a single extended family across five generations\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarie Aymard was an illiterate widow who lived in the provincial town of Angoul me in southwestern France, a place where seemingly nothing ever happened. Yet, in 1764, she made her fleeting mark on the historical record through two documents: a power of attorney in connection with the property of her late husband, a carpenter on the island of Grenada, and a prenuptial contract for her daughter, signed by eighty-three people in Angoul me. Who was Marie Aymard? Who were all these people? And why were they together on a dark afternoon in December 1764? Beginning with these questions, \u003ci\u003eAn Infinite History\u003c\/i\u003e offers a panoramic look at an extended family over five generations. Through ninety-eight connected stories about inquisitive, sociable individuals, ending with Marie Aymard's great-great granddaughter in 1906, Emma Rothschild unfurls an innovative modern history of social and family networks, emigration, immobility, the French Revolution, and the transformation of nineteenth-century economic life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRothschild spins a vast narrative resembling a period novel, one that looks at a large, obscure family, of whom almost no private letters survive, whose members traveled to Syria, Mexico, and Tahiti, and whose destinies were profoundly unequal, from a seamstress living in poverty in Paris to her third cousin, the cardinal of Algiers. Rothschild not only draws on discoveries in local archives but also uses new technologies, including the visualization of social networks, large-scale searches, and groundbreaking methods of genealogical research. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Infinite History\u003c\/i\u003e demonstrates how the ordinary lives of one family over three centuries can constitute a remarkable record of deep social and economic changes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmma Rothschild\u003c\/b\u003e is the Jeremy and Jane Knowles Professor of History at Harvard University, where she directs the Center for History and Economics. Her books include \u003ci\u003eThe Inner Life of Empires\u003c\/i\u003e (Princeton) and \u003ci\u003eEconomic Sentiments\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50519873716498,"sku":"9780691200309","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3a882828-dc94-4cd4-a997-9f0ef1a54ea8.jpg?v=1731069732","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/an-infinite-history-the-story-of-a-family-in-france-over-three-centuries-9780691200309","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}