| Contraband Subjects: Mandrin Louis 1725–1755; Criminals -- France -- Biography; Smugglers -- France -- Biography; Smuggling -- France -- History -- 18th century; France -- Commerce -- History -- 18th century; France -- Economic conditions -- 18th century; France -- Social c; Louis Mandrin led a gang of bandits who brazenly smuggled contraband into eighteenth-century France. Michael Kwass brings new life to the legend of this Gallic Robin Hood and the thriving underworld he helped to create. Decades before the storming of the Bastille, surging world trade excited a revolution in consumption that transformed the French kingdom. Contraband exposes the dark side of this early phase of globalization, revealing hidden connections between illicit commerce, criminality, and popular revolt. Kwass Michael : Michael Kwass is Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. |