France: A Short History (A Short History, 3) by Jeremy Black


France: A Short History (A Short History, 3)
Title : France: A Short History (A Short History, 3)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0500252505
ISBN-10 : 9780500252505
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 256
Publication : Published March 23, 2021

A short and entertaining narrative of France from prehistory to the present, recounting the great events and personalities that helped create France’s cultural and political influence today. Country and destination, nation and idea, France has a rich and complex history that fascinates the world and attracts millions of visitors each year to its chateaux and cathedrals, boulevards and vineyards. In this succinct and entertaining volume, historian Jeremy Black narrates how France’s past has created its distinct character and powerful artistic, intellectual, and political influence across the globe. Black takes readers from the cave paintings of Lascaux and the origins of Gothic architecture, to Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and the Lumiere brothers, and even into the cataclysm of the 1789 revolution, the countercultural student protests of 1968, and the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) today. His account presents a vivid take on history that emphasizes the unexpected nature of events and unpredictable outcomes of a fragmented and crisis-prone nation. In retelling France’s story, Black explores some of its most famous philosophy, literature, art, and architecture―and ties them to the military, political, and cultural shifts that led to their development. With color illustrations, France is a short, easy-to-digest history of a vast subject, and a helpful guide to understanding France today. 24 color illustrations

France: A Short History (A Short History, 3) Reviews

  • Owen McArdle

    I feel like the French history I knew was the odd snippet here and there rather than an actual narrative, and this really helped me get an idea of the ordering of events and how they linked to one another

  • Amirmasoud

    برای من کتاب بسیار مفیدی بود. تاریخ فرانسه را به صورت خیلی فشرده از دوران پیشاتاریخ شروع کرده و هر چه جلوتر می‌آید مفصلتر می‌شود. برای رسیدن به یک آشنایی کلی با تاریخ فرانسه کتاب بسیار خوبی بود.
    یکی از نکات مثبت کتاب این است که تا شرایط سیاسی امروز فرانسه هم پیش می‌آید.
    از نکات فرهنگی و شرایط اجتماعی و مردمی فرانسه در دوران مختلف نیز غافل نمانده و صرفاً داستان زندگی شاهان و حاکمان نیست.
    البته ترجمه به نظر بنده می‌توانست خیلی بهتر باشد.

  • Susan

    A good, short history of France, focused on politics and economics, less on culture and art, but still a good background and enjoyable and useful for our trip in June. I finished half before we left but didn’t want to leave such a good book u read even though the purpose for reading it had passed - so I read the other half upon return. And next up- onto books about Italy our next travel destinations.

  • Lolo

    DNF

    Unfortunately, I really struggled to get through this and ended up giving up on page 68 (out of 221 pages).
    I know a little about English history and basically nothing of French.
    So, I was hoping to build up my knowledge of French history with this book.
    However, this is a very dry and very messy read.
    It amounts to lists of names and dates, and a sentence or two of event context.
    I saw others had said this too but was willing to give it a go, being happy for any introduction to French history.
    But it was too hard to take much in with that format.

    And to make it harder, there were references within these snippets of other historical moments "similar" to the one currently being spoken of.
    Making the book feel less linear, and much more like it is jumping around.
    I don't need to know that this event was the biggest version of it until a similar event two hundred years from it with X and Y regents.
    Just tell me about that event when we get to it, otherwise it becomes too overloaded with information and makes it hard to actually keep track.

    "Charlemagne (r.768 - 814 as king of the Franks), Pepin III's son, and a great military leader, proved far more successful than the Merovingians, rather as Napoleon for much of his reign was more successful than his predecessors, the Bourbons." page 30

    Napoleon does not show up for a long time, we do not need to tie him in yet.
    When throwing around lots of dates and people - Keep it simple. Keep it linear (as much as possible).

    I did learn some key points, but I had to work hard to get very little back.
    So, I ended up repeatedly thinking that I could just find a more user-friendly and efficient way to learn all this.
    And so gave up on this one.

    It is probably great as a reference tool, but it is not a good read.

  • Joyce

    Concise, clear, quick, what it sez on the tin

  • Alex

    Presented a series of unconnected vignettes, with little in the way of an overarching narrative or theme, this short history manages to cover everything about France while saying nothing at all.

  • Beau

    For those who need to learn history starting from "the beginning," this is the perfect book. Opening with pre-Roman occupation, Black walks you through the history of the land we now call France play by play in a delightfully concise, yet impressively thorough, sprint.

    Perfect for those planning their travels or recently returned looking to get a broad overview. Quite quickly (less than 300 pages), you'll cover the most noteworthy historical events with an emphasis on patterns and themes. This book may be less useful to someone already knowledgable on French history unless their focus is quite narrow (e.g. the French Revolution) and they wish to have more context on French history as a whole.

    I am hopeful that more authors will write history in this style!