studied source of cultural information: the issues and interests contained in books banned by the Old Regime, but actively circulated in the illegal book market. Blasphemous philosophical tracts, pornographic novels, and anti-monarchist political essays all contributed to this body of forbidden literature." Gantz concluded: "Darnton's deft approach to his subject combines the rigors of historical research with a useful materialist analysis of the publishing trade." Malcolm Cook in The Modern Language Review wrote that "without his pioneering work over a period of about twenty-five years, our knowledge of the book trade in the final years of the ancien regime would be little indeed." Cook went on to say, "Darnton claims that his objective is 'understanding the demand for forbidden books and the means of transmitting and satisfying it.' There is no doubt, in my opinion, that this objective is achieved." Jeremy D. Popkin in The Journal of Modern History, noting the importance of Darnton's earlier work on the same topic, expressed reservations about Darnton's achievement in Forbidden Best-Sellers. "The print culture of eighteenth-century France was too extensive and too diverse to allow us to single out any one element as decisive in causing the Revolution. Few scholars have done as much over the years to alert us to the extent of that diversity as Robert Darnton. Forbidden Best-Sellers, rather than extending and synthesizing his earlier work, seems to turn its back on Darnton's own most original insights and the findings that other scholars inspired by his work have come to." John Lough in Romanische Forschungen concluded "One may greatly admire Darnton's brilliant researches into the underground book trade without being able to accept some of the conclusions which he draws from them." See also French Revolution Utopian and dystopian fiction Libertine novel References Sources 1996 non-fiction books English-language books Books of literary criticism