The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in Time [Hardcover]

John Merriman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 2002

Experience village France with its historical dimension in place. In a spirited history, John Merriman allows us to see the presence of the past in the people and ways of this beautiful village in the Ardeche.

Balazuc is a tiny medieval village carved into a limestone cliff that towers above the Ardeche River in southeastern France. Its dramatic landscape and Mediterranean climate make it a lovely destination for summer visitors, but for its residents over the centuries life in Balazuc has been harsh. At times Balazuc has prospered, most notably in the nineteenth century through the cultivation of "the golden tree" and the silkworms it fed, a process whose rigors and rewards are gleefully detailed in this splendid book. But the rewards proved fleeting, leaving only the rigors of life on the "tormented soil." Historical events from the French Revolution, through the Paris Commune and the two world wars, sent ripples through this isolated region, but the continuities of everyday life remained strong. Twenty-eight men from Balazuc signed the list of grievances against the king in the spring of 1789; the families of nineteen still live in the village. This is a story of resilience. It is the French story of tensions between Paris and the village expressed in battles over the school, the church, the council, and people's livelihoods. Most of all it is a love letter from an acclaimed historian who with his family has made Balazuc his adopted home. With a new "golden tree," tourism, now flourishing, the struggles of the village to prosper and to retain its identity continue, transmuted to a world of cell phones and an imagined village past.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The impetus for John Merriman's The Stones of Balazuc, his affectionate but commendably evenhanded history of an obscure French village southwest of Lyon, was an apparently simple question: What difference had the "great events"--including the French Revolution and the two world wars--made there? Balazuc (population 339; 1,000 during the summer), built on cliffs overlooking the Ardeche River, is a place of "savage," and to some, forbidding, beauty. Over the centuries its fortunes--based primarily on silk production (and to a lesser extent chestnuts and vineyards), and more recently tourism--have risen and fallen dramatically. Merriman briefly traces Balazuc's pre-history and its Roman and medieval periods, but concentrates on the last few hundred years: the ravages of agricultural diseases, wars, and ferocious storms, and more recently, the ominous and steady exodus of young people. More intriguing, however, are his spare, unprepossessing investigations of the quotidian, such as the arrival of television, the development of a municipal drinking water system, the real estate market, the shifting cast of customers of the local café, and villagers' reflections on their changing world. Francophiles, especially, will appreciate this book. So should general readers hungry for something beyond another frothy look at quaint, colorful, French rural life. --H. O'Billovich

From Publishers Weekly

Acclaimed Yale historian Merriman (A History of Modern Europe) has written an exhaustively researched and valuable chronicle of Balazuc (where he spends part of the year), using the small village in south-central France as an excellent lens through which to view larger economic, social and political aspects of French history. Merriman begins by describing the village's geography: because of its rocky soil and often violent weather, Balazuciens have had to work tirelessly, and against the elements, to eke out a meager existence. Merriman then details Balazuc's long history back to about A.D. 1000. In the 14th century, the infamous "Black Death" killed over a third of the local population, and because of the crucial influence of the Catholic Church, the town has historically been more conservative than the rest of France. Yet in 1789, as part of the national crisis, the men of Balazuc drew up a list of grievances, calling for an end to burdensome taxation and feudal obligations. The revolution, especially its anticlerical leanings, fractured the village for years to come. Meanwhile, the local economy was revolutionized by the silk industry. The silkworm harvest became the crucial event of the year and, for a time, made Balazuc prosperous. The silkworms, however, were devastated by disease in the late 1840s, and the town began a long decline. The advent of the 20th century, with its devastating world wars, accelerated Balazuc's decline, and the local dialect, or patois, slowly disappeared. While some of Balazuc's history is unique, much of it reflects on larger themes of French history. As such, Merriman's vivid account should appeal to those with an interest in French history, especially its rural aspects.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (June 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393051137
• ISBN-13: 978-0393051131
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wider Lens For Village History, May 10, 2008

By 

Chimonsho (Turtle Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in Time (Hardcover)

The village study, whether history or anthropology, is a familiar genre in French studies. Some worthy precursors (E. Le Roy Ladurie, "Montaillou;" L. Wylie, "Village in the Vaucluse") detail local developments and tensions but still cast a vaguely romantic aura around the little community. But Merriman's instructive tale is of poor peasants struggling in a harsh environment with stony, infertile soils (partly human-made problems), and influenced by economic change more than national politics. He shows how Balazuc reflects broader French patterns: cash crop cycles (17-18C chestnuts & wine, 19C silk production), 20C tourism, and chronic hemorrhage of rural youth through outmigration. Such trends characterize rural life around the world, not just in France. His family's residence in Balazuc enriches a warm, insightful but sometimes critical account. BTW, writing a book is a splendid gift to one's adoptive hometown, requiring no justification.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How the other 90% lived, January 5, 2007

By 

Lori Reeser "Major Reader" (Sunnyvale, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in Time (Hardcover)

This is the story of a small, isolated town in southern France from shortly before the French Revolution until today. It is a specific example of how the "big events" affected (or not) everyday life. Although the author is not an economic historian, the book is also about how the village becomes increasingly involved in the world economy. As it turns out this has a far greater impact than the political events do.

The book is written in an accessible style, but could have used some better editing. In several places two almost identical senteces follow one another. It is well documented and noted, so anyone wishing to follow the research will be able to.

If you are interested in how "everyone else" lived in France for the past 300 years, this is a good book.

3 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very specific and not representative, January 22, 2003

By 

Francois (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stones of Balazuc: A French Village in Time (Hardcover)

The book appears to be the authors justification for spending time in this village. It's amazing he found a publisher for this.