Offers an account of women's history throughout the 19th century. James McMillan, author of the work "Housewife or Harlot", offers a reinterpretation of the French past in relation to gender throughout these tumultuous decades of revolution and war. This book provides a discussion of the factors which made French political culture so profoundly sexist and in particular, it shows that many of the myths about progress and emancipation associated with modernization and the coming of mass politics do not stand up to close scrutiny. It also reveals the conservative nature of the republican left and of the ingrained belief throughout French society that women should remain within the domestic sphere. James McMillan considers the role played by French men and women in the politics, culture and society of their country throughout the 1800s.