From Clovis to Macron: A Russian view of the social and economic history of France (Review of Alexander Khudokormov's textbook, social and economic history of France)

This article covers the main ideas of the new textbook, Socio-Economic History of France, written by the renowned Russian scholar Alexander G. Khudokormov (the head of the department of economic history and history of economic thought of the Lomonosov Moscow State University). We think that the most interesting points of the Khudokormov's textbook are the following. 1. The breadth of the historical panorama-in the textbook, the social and economic history of France is considered from the time of the "Lex Salica" to the "yellow vests" riots. 2. Consideration of socio-economic history of France from a comparative perspective. Throughout the work, Khudokormov demonstrates how different features of French economic history were reflected in Russia. In our opinion, such an approach can immune students from applying one-size-fits models and create an awareness of the importance of studying the institutional properties of different countries. 3. The textbook is written in a very beautiful language using lots of references to the details of French everyday life and literary works. This style, at first glance, is no longer fashionable in the era of increasing formalization of economic history, but we believe that it is on the major advantages of Khudokormov's textbook. Thanks to this manner of presenting material, students will better understand France's fascinating history and realize the need to take into account cultural and institutional contexts in the development of economic policy. \textcopyright 2020, Southern Federal University.