visigoths and saracens
 

I am reading french history prior to my trip.The book I am reading keeps referring to Visigoths and Saracens who invaded France after the Romans.I would be very interested to know, if anyone is clever enough to tell me where these tribes originated. <BR>Also does any one know of a good web site or forum dealing with history.I have tried search engines,but all I get is rubbish.

Catherine, <BR>The Goths were a Germanic tribe that waged war with the Roman Empire. The Visigoths were a Gothic branch that inhabited what would be western Germany and invaded France during Roman times. The Saracens were Arabic inhabitants of Syria and the Arabian Peninsula. They ruled the African Mediterranean coast.

Thankyou very much wes.This makes things much clearer.I wish I had studied history.

Wes or anyone else: Do you have any recommendations on a book on French history that provides details on <BR>all the kings? I have read a couple <BR>of books recently (One is A Traveler's History of France) but most of the kings get only a sentence or two. I'm interested in the kind of colorful detail that Antonia Fraser provided in "The Kings and Queens of England". Any suggestions? Thanks. <BR>

Elaine, <BR>If I have any expertise at all it's in European travel, certainly not European history. Nevertheless, I'll barge ahead with some recommendations. I would expect that all of the following are out of print but may be available if you have access to a good library. Start with "Paris on the Seine" by Blake Ehrlich who touches on every historic site in Paris and the people (kings and queens included) who made those sites historic. Look for "Eternal France" by Norah Lofts and Margery Weiner which traces French history from the French revolution through World War II. Look for "The French, Portrait of a People" by Sanche de Gramont which looks at the epic past of France to explain "the tangle of perfect courtesy and incredible rudeness" that identifies the Frenchman of today. Look too for Simon Schama's magnificent narrative of the French revolution, "Citizens", an absolutely brilliant piece of writing. Finally, Will Durant's "The Age of Louis XIV" and "The Age of Reason" should keep you occupied until well into the millenium.

Wes, thanks so much. I've read the "Citizens" book, will try one of the others. I'm especially interested in pre-Revoluton Fr. history. Thanks again. <BR>

Elaine,the book I am currently reading is, The road from the past,by Ina Caro.It is my second reading and it is excellent.She mentions the kings and queens a lot in the section on the Loire valley.She has me so intrigued that is why we are going there this year.Wes that Citizen book sounds good I will have to have it.I know it's not in my library.You guys are costing me money.

A great book on pre-revolution France is Early Modern France 1560-1715 by Robin Briggs. If you want to read in detail about the revolution, there is France 1789-1815: Revolutions and Counter-Revolutions by D.M.G. Sutherland. If you want to go even farther back, before the Bourbons, I would suggest Capetian France 987-1328 by Elizabeth Hallam. I have been trying to recall the best on Napoleon - I think the one I remember most is by Felix Markam (can't remember the title - I think it is just Napoleon Bonaparte). If you want a book that gives a good general history of modern France, with a very good section on the revolution and Napoleon, I suggest Gordon Wright's France in Modern Times: From the Enlightenment to the Present. If you have a particular interest in Napoleon, Tolstoy's War and Peace is fantastic reading, and of course it contains a lot of romance and Russian history as well.