There Are No Slaves in France examines the paradoxical emergence of political antislavery and institutional racism in the century prior to the French Revolution. Sue Peabody shows how the political culture of late Bourbon France created ample opportunities for contestation over the meaning of freedom. Based on various archival sources, this work will be of interest not only to historians of slavery and France, but to scholars interested in the emergence of modern culture in the Atlantic world.

Readership: General/scholars of the history of slavery and France.

Sue Peabody, Assistant Professor of History, Washington State University

"compact study ... This is not an exhaustive investigation of law cases, but an in-depth examination of a few key cases for the purpose of bringing individual contestants and their lawyers into clear focus." - Robert Foster, Social History Vol XXXI No 61 May 1998