The Discovery of France

The Discovery of France

$10.00 AUD

Availability: in stock at our Tullamarine warehouse

Condition: SECONDHAND

NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.

Author: Graham Robb

Format: Paperback

Number of Pages: 480


"This is a vivid and indispensable book, so full of unexpected and wittily related treasures..." Daily Telegraph It's easy to reduce France to the sum of its parts: weekend breaks amid the culture of Paris or summer holidays basking in the sunshine of the south; accounts of the Revolution - Madame Defarge knitting beside the guillotine - and Napoleon's battle at Waterloo (mis)remembered from school history lessons; a country famous for its intellectuals, its philosophers and writers, its fashion, food and wine. Despite this, however, the notion of "the French" as one nation is relatively recent and - historically speaking - quite misleading; in order to discover the "real" past of France, it's not only necessary to go back in time, but also to go at a slower pace than modern life generally allows: this book is the result of 14,000 miles covered by bicycle (and four years spent in the library). It is - at last - a book which tells the whole story. PRAISE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF FRANCE "Captivatingly full of the author's own discoveries - exotic landscapes, weird customs, remarkable individuals and events overlooked by history" Guardian "A revealing biography of ordinary French citizens and a portrait of the world beyond Paris and the urban elite." Time Out "Superlative history of la France profonde" Sunday Times, 100 best holiday reads



Reviews

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
Description
NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.

Author: Graham Robb

Format: Paperback

Number of Pages: 480


"This is a vivid and indispensable book, so full of unexpected and wittily related treasures..." Daily Telegraph It's easy to reduce France to the sum of its parts: weekend breaks amid the culture of Paris or summer holidays basking in the sunshine of the south; accounts of the Revolution - Madame Defarge knitting beside the guillotine - and Napoleon's battle at Waterloo (mis)remembered from school history lessons; a country famous for its intellectuals, its philosophers and writers, its fashion, food and wine. Despite this, however, the notion of "the French" as one nation is relatively recent and - historically speaking - quite misleading; in order to discover the "real" past of France, it's not only necessary to go back in time, but also to go at a slower pace than modern life generally allows: this book is the result of 14,000 miles covered by bicycle (and four years spent in the library). It is - at last - a book which tells the whole story. PRAISE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF FRANCE "Captivatingly full of the author's own discoveries - exotic landscapes, weird customs, remarkable individuals and events overlooked by history" Guardian "A revealing biography of ordinary French citizens and a portrait of the world beyond Paris and the urban elite." Time Out "Superlative history of la France profonde" Sunday Times, 100 best holiday reads