Book on the history of France
May 21st, 1999, 09:11 AM
#1
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Book on the history of France
Can anyone recommend a good book on the history of France that is relatively concise. <BR>I fought Napolean's battles in a French history course in college 46 years ago and don't necessarily want to re-enlist. And I got tired of rolling heads during the Reign of Terror.
May 21st, 1999, 09:53 AM
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Bob, <BR>Look for Andre Maurois "An Illustrated History of France". It was published in 1960 and is a truly concise history from France's beginnings (200 pages with many illustrations). If the university library doesn't have a copy you can pick up a used copy at www2.alibris.com They have a number of copies in various condition.
May 21st, 1999, 02:05 PM
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Bob, <BR>Here's another you can look into. It's Blake Ehrlich's "Paris by the Seine" which is a street by street tour of Paris with anecdotes of historic events or personages relevant to the street or an address on it. Truly an extraordinary bit of research and fascinating reading. It's another that's out of print but available from the alibris used book website. Ehrlich by the way also wrote "London on the Thames" and equally fascinating book.
May 21st, 1999, 08:38 PM
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Thanks to all for the responses. I will check the UGA library tomorrow. It is between terms, so hopefully the shelves are restocked. <BR>I have read a lot of French diplomatic history, as Europe since 1914 was my major at one time. But as for the other stuff, I don't really care to wade through it again. Danton, Marat, and Robespierre were too well known, and my professor was a little guy who identified with, glorified, and idolized Napolean I. <BR> <BR>The Dreyfus Case, and France Against Herself, and a few others were required. That was a long time ago, and I need a refresher. <BR> <BR>
May 22nd, 1999, 05:42 AM
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Graziella, <BR>Saw your posting to Fodor's and rechecked Alibris this morning (5/22). There are at least a dozen copies of the London on the Thames book and a half dozen Paris on the Seine. Do a search by full author name rather than by book title and you'll find them. <BR> <BR>
May 22nd, 1999, 06:46 AM
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My advice if you really want something concise : just read the general introduction pages of any "serious" guide book, such as the Blue Guide, Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, Time Out, Fodor's, and in 10-15 pages, you'll get the jist of it. Another recommendation (sorry for our beloved host Mr Fodor ! ): go to Lonely Planet's web site (lonelyplanet.com), under "destination", then "France", there is a whole anglophone bibliography about France.
May 24th, 1999, 05:11 AM
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Other places to find used books (alibris is not my favorite): www.abebooks.com and www.bibliofind.com. Do bear in mind for all these sites that data entry can cause problems, so you may need to search in more than one way to uncover items obscured by a typo in the author's name or a misspelled word in the title. "Ehrlich" seems to give some typists trouble, for example.
