Melding the fields of literature sociology and history this book develops analyses of the
ten novels in Balzac's Scènes de la vie de province. Following the order of the novels
projected in La Comédie humaine Allan H. Pasco investigates how Balzac used art as a tool of
social inquiry to obtain startlingly accurate insights into the relationships that defined his
turbulent society. His repeated claim to be an historian of manners was more than an empty
boast. Though Balzac was first and foremost a great novelist he was also a trailblazing
sociologist joining Henri de Saint-Simon and the subsequent Auguste Comte in considering the
relationships that represent society as an interacting interlocking web. Using a methodology
that combines close analysis with a broad cultural context Pasco demonstrates that Balzac's
sociological vision was extraordinarily pertinent to both his and our days.
