When one thinks of the Enlightenment, the great philosophes and their writings probably spring to mind, but in this well-researched, well-written study of the popular press, Bond (Ohio State Univ.) explores the previously overlooked contributions of ordinary letters to the editors of the affiches, local newspapers that specialized in announcements and advertisements, in helping to spread the ideas of the philosophes and to generate an additional body of knowledge for the Enlightenment. Summing Up: ** Recommended. All levels.

It condenses an immense amount of research, with figures to explain network analysis, the sourcing of news, and the letters' contents and their authors' signatures.The richness of Bond's study stems from the plethora of voices that her analysis includes. Bond's monograph is a serious contribution to multiple fields in the study of eighteenth-century France.

This book is a very well-crafted specialist work. While this degree of specialization may inhibit the book's appeal to a general, educated audience, the work more than compensates for this by its absolutely essential value for any Enlightenment-focused scholar or graduate student with an interest in the print trade, or in the public sphere and social discourse of the period. For these latter readers, this book should not be overlooked.

The chosen perspective, the investigation of the special section of letters to the editor in the Affiches, is original, having been rarely touched on and masterfully building on previously published research. The book is a great new contribution to the history of the French press, covering new approaches from the histories of science and agriculture.

Bond writes very well[.] The Writing Public should be read by anyone interested in the intellectual origins of the French Revolution. The Writing Public is a model monograph, and the best guide to understanding mainstream French thinking on the eve of the Revolution.