The Politics of Appearances Authors: Richard Wrigley Published by Berg Publishers Page extent: 256pp Format: Hardback Additional Blurbs: 40 b&w illus  bibliog  index In the turbulent political and social landscape of Revolutionary France, dress played a major role in defining and displaying new identities. What people wore was, in fact, a vital symbol of their allegiances and beliefs. Drawing on a wide range of documentary and visual sources, this book offers a vivid picture of the highly charged politics of Revolutionary appearances. The author explores the dynamic complexity of the new socio-political world, where the identification of who stood for what was such an urgent, if vexed, issue: where identical items of dress could stand for opposing political ideologies, where a variety of institutions - from local societies to the national assembly - tried to define the meanings associated with clothing, and where the clothes a person wore could seal their fate. Tracing the stories surrounding the liberty cap, the different manifestations of official dress, the tricolore cockade and the sans-culotte provides a new and exciting insight into the complexities and uncertainties that made up life in Revolutionary France and the political culture that it created.       Contents:         Abbreviations   Introduction      1   Revolutionary Relics     2   Representing Authority: New Forms of Official Identity  3   Cockades: Badge Culture and its Discontents    4   Liberty Caps: From Roman Emblem to Radical Headgear         5   Sans-culottes: The Formation, Currency, and Representation of a Vestimentary Stereotype    6   Mistaken Identities: Disguise, Surveillance, and the Legibility of Appearances          Bibliography     Index    The Textile Directory Bookstore postal charges: UK 1 book = £2.50 2 books = £4.50 3 books = £7.00 4 books or more = £9.00 Overseas 1 book = £6.00 2 books = £10.00 3 books = £14.00 4 books or more = £18.00 Price: £50.00