France in the mid-nineteenth century was shaken by a surge of civic activism, the "resurrection of civil society" But unlike similar developments throughout Europe, this civic mobilization culminated in the establishment of democratic institutions. The French Revolution created a new cultural world that freed women from the constraints of corporate privilege, aristocratic salons, and patriarchal censorship, even though it failed to grant them legal equality. Fenby’s account of the French second world war is particularly excellent, as he explains how the experience of occupation was also a new chapter in the civil war, fought between the left and those peculiarly French fascists who thought they saw a new dawn rather than fires on the horizon. Here Vincent Serrano-Guerra, author of a book for learning French that focuses on the 20,000 words that are the same in French and English, explains how best to set about it and recommends some books that'll also get you familiar with French culture.

It is written in John Julius Norwich’s inimitable chatty narrative style, and there is never a dull moment in the book. De Gaulle biographer and one of Britain’s leading historians of modern France, Julian Jackson, talks us through some key books to get a sense of France’s wartime leader and president, Charles de Gaulle. The Parisians, reeling from defeat in the Franco-Prussian War set up their own revolutionary administration. A bold new assessment of how the violence, racist nationalism, and grief aroused in 1914-18 changed the course of historyTo many, the years of the Great War seemed to signal Europe's collective suicide.He has his favourites – among them the gallant - if dishonest, and somewhat prone to anti-Protestant pogroms - Francis I (one of the stars of Norwich's previous book, Four Princes), but he doesn't try to weasel out of their flaws; nor does he deny the virtues which are a necessary part of the monstrous Robespierre. In this provocative study, Henry Rousso examines how this proud nation-a nation where reality and myth commingle to confound understanding-has dealt with les . Part two examines the meaning and challenge of the Enlightenment, with particular reference to women and the mass of the . Kedward's detailed and perceptive account explores what participation in the Maquis meant for those involved .

There was no overt nationalism; instead there were smiles, kindness and people were talking to one another. Along the way, he introduces a variety of regents, from Clovis I to Napoleon III, with 18 Louises in between, plus an odd duck named Dagobert I, who wore his trousers inside out. Here Vincent Serrano-Guerra, author of a book for learning French that focuses on the 20,000 words that are the same in French and English, explains how best to set about it and recommends some books that’ll also get you familiar with French culture. In 1993, he was appointed CVO for having curated an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum to mark the 40th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.

The author attributes his love of France to childhood travels and to his early life in France and the book reflects that passion. Before 1848, France had been ruled by the 'July Monarchy', a liberal regime without democratic participation. After graduation, he joined the Foreign Service and served in Belgrade, Beirut, and as a member of British delegation to the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. But listening to this book makes one wonder what the image of history is like for people who only read popular histories, which are, almost without exception, massively conservative. A panorama of a whole civilization, a world on the verge of cataclysm, unfolds in this magisterial work by the foremost historian of eighteenth-century France.

Banks defines and applies the concept of communications in a far broader context than previous historical studies of communication, encompassing a range of human activity from sailing routes, to mapping, to presses, to building roads and bridges. This 19th century attitude and perspective are explained by and, to a degree, can be excused because of the author’s age, of course.Princeton University's Florent Masse offers us a reading from the point of view of teaching theater.

This latest work from an author known for her contributions to the new cultural history is a multidisciplinary investigation of the foundations of modern politics. Little noticed by much of the world, France, during the 1960s and 1970s, developed into one of the most generous welfare states in the world. I knew they had fought the British on and off for centuries, and ther Norwich, though, never pretends to objectivity, never tries to use sleight of hand to get us going his way - he offers the facts, with commentary and conclusion.Paxton demonstrated that Petain's regime actions went beyond what they were pressured to do by the Nazis.