This book, first published in 1971, is a close analysis of some of the typical peasant uprisings of the seventeenth century. The goal of the movements in France and China was a return to a more traditional society, but in Russia the peasants attempted to replace rigid order with a more democratic society.

Part 1. France: Peasant Revolts 1. The Social Structures of the Kingdom of France 2. The Role of the Peasants in French Revolts as a Whole between 1624 and 1648 3. The Croquants of Saintonge, Angoumois and Poitou - 1636 4. The Croquants of Périgord - 1637 5. The Nu-Pieds of Normandy - 1639 6. The Torrébens of Normandy - 1675 Part 2. Russia: The Peasants in the Revolts of the 'Time of Troubles' and in the Anabasis of Stenka Razin 7. The Social Structures of Russia at the End of the Sixteenth Century 8. Peasant Revolts of the 'Time of Trouble': The False Dimitris and Bolotnikov 9. Russian Society Before the Revolt of Stenka Razin 10. The Revolt of Stenka Razin Part 3. China: The Peasants in Some Revolts Toward the End of the Ming Dynasty 11. The Social Structures of China in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century 12. Peasant Revolts Under the Last Mings