"Did you say Cochin? Who, except for a few specialists, has ever heard of him, even in France? Why read him? True enough, he is not the most famous, but there is a reason for that, and of such a nature as to be in itself good motivation for reading him. He has indeed dared lay a most incorrect hand upon the founding myth of contemporary France, the French Revolution." -From the Preface by Claude Polin Augustin Cochin (1876-1916) undertook a minute analysis of the role that provincial clubs and societies played in the genesis of the French Revolution. His work shows clearly how the revolution was organized long before the events of 1789. Wounded four times in World War I, Cochin died before he was able to complete or revise his work. This translation is an attempt to present his unfinished writings in a clear and coherent form.