Traditionally, France has been viewed as host to a unique set of tensions between the centre and the periphery, dating back to the Revolution and beyond, which has shaped its structures of power and marked its evolution as a modern society. This survey provides a fresh overview of those tensions between a centralising state and the constituencies challenging it, and asks whether that model can remain viable or whether it is not, in fact, undergoing a process of profound change.

DENNIS AGER Professor of French and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Aston University ALISTAIR COLE Lecturer, Politics Department, University of Keele JILL FORBES Professor of French, University of Bristol GEORGE JONES Head of French Studies, European Business School, London SUSAN MILNER Lecturer in French, University of Bath