
Certain Ideas of France
Essays on French History and Civilization
H. L. Wesseling(Author)
Praeger Publishers Inc
Published on 30. June 2002
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-313-32341-6 (ISBN)
Description
The title of this book is, of course, inspired by the famous opening words of General de Gaulle's Memoirs of the Second World War: All my life I have thought of France in a certain way. Wesseling brings together his essays dealing with a great variety of subjects such as culture, society, politics, and diplomacy, with one section devoted entirely to French historians.
The first section contains an chapter on the famous painter Ary Scheffer and the France of his time, that is to say the first half of the 19th century. The second chapter continues this theme and deals with Emile Zola and the Paris of the Second Empire. Two other chapters discuss aspects of the Third Republic, sports and students, respectively. The second section is devoted to French intellectuals. It offers the first in-depth analysis of the group of intellectuals that supported Zola and Dreyfus. Chapter six deals with one of the great literary figures of the interwar period-and later a notorious collaborator-Robert Brasillach. Chapter seven contains a vivid sketch of the life and work of the famous French intellectual Raymond Aron. The third section is devoted to politics and diplomacy. French foreign policy is discussed both in its long-term perspective as well as more specifically in the period of Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle's idea of France is compared with that of an author by whom he was greatly influenced, Charles Peguy. Finally, there is a section on French history writing, including two biographical essays, one about Gabriel Hanotaux, the once famous but now nearly forgotten historian who became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and another on Fernand Braudel, the great contemporary French historian and close friend of Wesseling. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with French history, the history of ideas, and European historiography.
The first section contains an chapter on the famous painter Ary Scheffer and the France of his time, that is to say the first half of the 19th century. The second chapter continues this theme and deals with Emile Zola and the Paris of the Second Empire. Two other chapters discuss aspects of the Third Republic, sports and students, respectively. The second section is devoted to French intellectuals. It offers the first in-depth analysis of the group of intellectuals that supported Zola and Dreyfus. Chapter six deals with one of the great literary figures of the interwar period-and later a notorious collaborator-Robert Brasillach. Chapter seven contains a vivid sketch of the life and work of the famous French intellectual Raymond Aron. The third section is devoted to politics and diplomacy. French foreign policy is discussed both in its long-term perspective as well as more specifically in the period of Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle's idea of France is compared with that of an author by whom he was greatly influenced, Charles Peguy. Finally, there is a section on French history writing, including two biographical essays, one about Gabriel Hanotaux, the once famous but now nearly forgotten historian who became Minister of Foreign Affairs, and another on Fernand Braudel, the great contemporary French historian and close friend of Wesseling. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with French history, the history of ideas, and European historiography.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
521 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-313-32341-6 (9780313323416)
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E-Book
06/2002
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€82.49
Available for download
Person
H. L. WESSELING is Professor of General History at the University of Leiden and Rector of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study at Wassenaar. Among Professor Wesseling's many earlier publications are Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914 (Praeger, 1996), which has been translated into six languages, and Imperialism and Colonialism (Greenwood Press, 1997).
Content
Foreword by Eugen Weber Preface Culture and Society Ary Scheffer and His Time The Paris of Emile Zola Pierre de Coubertin: Sport and Ideology in the Third Republic, 1870-1914 Commotion at the Sorbonne: The Debate on the French University, 1910-1914 Intellectuals and Politics Reluctant Crusaders: French Intellectuals and the Dreyfus Affair Robert Brasillach and the Temptation of Fascism An Intellectual in Politics: Raymond Aron, 1905-1983 Politics and Diplomacy Constants in French Foreign Policy Was de Gaulle Right? Charles de Gaulle and Charles Peguy: A Certain Idea of France History and Historians Gabriel Hanotaux: An Historian in Politics The Annales School and the Writing of Contemporary History: The First Fifty Years Fernand Braudel: Historian of the "Longue DuREe" Index