France
A History: from Gaul to de Gaulle
Published on 4. April 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-1-4736-6384-8 (ISBN)
Description
'For his final book, the late Norwich tackled the dauntingly vast subject of two millennia of French history with admirable lightness and urbanity . . . his comic footnotes deserve a review of their own' DAILY TELEGRAPH
I can still feel, as if it were yesterday, the excitement of my first Channel crossing (as a child of nearly 7) in September 1936; the regiment of porters, smelling asphyxiatingly of garlic in their blue-green blousons; the raucous sound all around me of spoken French; the immense fields of Normandy strangely devoid of hedges; then the Gare du Nord at twilight, the policemen with their kepis and their little snow-white batons; and my first sight of the Eiffel Tower . . . This book is written in the belief that the average English-speaking man or woman has remarkably little knowledge of French history. We may know a bit about Napoleon or Joan of Arc or Louis XIV, but for most of us that's about it. In my own three schools we were taught only about the battles we won: Crecy and Poitiers, Agincourt and Waterloo. The rest was silence. So here is my attempt to fill in the blanks . . .
John Julius Norwich's last book is the book he always wanted to write: the extremely colourful story of the country he loves best.
From frowning Roman generals and belligerent Gallic chieftains, to Charlemagne (hated by generations of French children taught that he invented schools) through Marie Antoinette and the storming of the Bastille to Vichy, the Resistance and beyond, FRANCE is packed with heroes and villains, adventures and battles, romance and revolution. Full of memorable stories and racy anecdotes, this is the perfect introduction to the country that has inspired the rest of the world to live, dress, eat -- and love better.
I can still feel, as if it were yesterday, the excitement of my first Channel crossing (as a child of nearly 7) in September 1936; the regiment of porters, smelling asphyxiatingly of garlic in their blue-green blousons; the raucous sound all around me of spoken French; the immense fields of Normandy strangely devoid of hedges; then the Gare du Nord at twilight, the policemen with their kepis and their little snow-white batons; and my first sight of the Eiffel Tower . . . This book is written in the belief that the average English-speaking man or woman has remarkably little knowledge of French history. We may know a bit about Napoleon or Joan of Arc or Louis XIV, but for most of us that's about it. In my own three schools we were taught only about the battles we won: Crecy and Poitiers, Agincourt and Waterloo. The rest was silence. So here is my attempt to fill in the blanks . . .
John Julius Norwich's last book is the book he always wanted to write: the extremely colourful story of the country he loves best.
From frowning Roman generals and belligerent Gallic chieftains, to Charlemagne (hated by generations of French children taught that he invented schools) through Marie Antoinette and the storming of the Bastille to Vichy, the Resistance and beyond, FRANCE is packed with heroes and villains, adventures and battles, romance and revolution. Full of memorable stories and racy anecdotes, this is the perfect introduction to the country that has inspired the rest of the world to live, dress, eat -- and love better.
Reviews / Votes
Always a warm, welcoming guide, John Julius Norwich takes us on a historical tour of France from its earliest days to the twenty-first century . . . A highly entertaining introduction to a fascinating nation * History Revealed Magazine * Norwich romps through French history with lots of good stories: philandering kings, dread plagues and legendary dinners * The Times * For his final book, the late Norwich tackled the dauntingly vast subject of two millennia of French history with admirable lightness and urbanity. There is the odd whiff, probably deliberate, of 1066 and All That - "The Capetians had steadily built up France, transforming it from a Carolingian custard into a nation" - and his comic footnotes deserve a review of their own * The Daily Telegraph, Summer Reads * A richly illuminating work . . . Norwich was a wonderful military historian * Times Literary Supplement * Almost the best thing in it is the author's short epilogue, 'The Essence of France', in which he listed what he loved most about that enchanting, if occasionally exasperating, country - its architecture, its painting and its music. These were among Norwich's greatest passions, which he invariably conveyed with authority, charm and wit -- Desmond Seward * History Today * A story told with charm and obvious enthusiasm for the subject ... My children constantly ask why the GCSE syllabus cannot be an introduction to British history rather than a somewhat esoteric dive into Weimar, Nazi Germany and Russia. What they want is a comprehensive, approachable and enjoyable survey of the story of our islands - and that is exactly what John Julius Norwich has written about France . . . The attraction of this commendable short history is that it's as entertaining as it is informative, written with fluency, wit and a nicely understated humour: a real pleasure-almost compelling-to read * Country Life * Norwich treats history like a friendly fireside chat * Sunday Independent * The tone of France is avuncular, worldly and witty; it is like having dinner with an urbane, well-read uncle. * Country & Town House * There is certainly a need for a concise history of France in English and, in many ways, John Julius Norwich is the ideal man to write it . . . Norwich has a love for France that stretches back to his childhood and it is evident throughout this readable, entertaining book. * Sunday Times * This warm, delightful short history of France, aimed convivially at the general reader, is his love letter to the country he knew so well * The Spectator * John Julius Norwich's political history of France, which begins with Vercingetorix and ends with Charles de Gaulle in 1945, invites us to admire the giants of the past and even vicariously to share in their triumphs . . . richly illuminating * Times Literary Supplement * Written with zest . . . The sadly late JJN shines through as his best friendly donnish self - an avuncular tutor who invites you in for a glass as he expounds on 2000 years of French history, from the Gauls through Charlemagne and Julius Caesar to de Gaulle. With a deft but gentle touch, he goes through sex, death and tennis, and it either complements a summer holiday to France or gives you a sudden desire to visit * OX Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
John Murray Press
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
292 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4736-6384-8 (9781473663848)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
04/2018
1st Edition
John Murray
€2.99
Available for download
Person
After National Service, John Julius Norwich (1929-2018) took a degree in French and Russian at New College, Oxford. In 1952 he joined the Foreign Service serving at the embassies in Belgrade and Beirut and with the British Delegation to the Disarmament Conference at Geneva. His publications include The Normans in Sicily; Mount Athos (with Reresby Sitwell); Sahara; The Architecture of Southern England; Glyndebourne; and A History of Venice. He was also the author of a three-volume history of the Byzantine Empire. He wrote and presented some thirty historical documentaries for television, and was a regular lecturer on Venice and numerous other subjects. Lord Norwich was chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund, Co-chairman of the World Monuments Fund and a former member of the Executive Committee of the National Trust. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Geographical Society and the Society of Antiquaries, and a Commendatore of the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. He was made a CVO in 1993.