The French have always loved to protest, to strike, to take to the streets in rebellion against the state or the status quo. But in the last few years, the level of anger and violence has taken many by surprise and the atmosphere has changed. The voices of hostility are not only from the extreme far-right, but from the ordinary French who feel excluded from the closed circle of wealth and privilege within the prospering cities. In this fascinating book, Andrew Hussey uncovers the past and present of the culture of the working class in France, a culture invisible to most tourists and ignored by the metropolitan classes.