Description
Majestic ambitiousLiterary Review
We are endlessly fascinated bytheFrench We are fascinated by their way of life their creativity sophistication and selfassurance and even their insistence that they are exceptional But how did France becomethecountry it is today and what really sets it apart
Journalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answerthese questions inTheFrenchMinda dazzling history of France that takes us fromtheseventeenth century tothepresent day throughthenations most influential thinkersHe opensthedoors totheRenaissance salons that were a breeding ground for poets philosophers and scientists and tellsthe forgotten stories ofthe extraordinarysuccession of women who ranthese institutions fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else intheworld
Its a story that takes us into Bohemian cafes and cabarets into chic Parisian high culture via French philosophies of food fashion and sex while growing unrest hastens the bloody birth of a republic Fromthe1789revolution tothe countrys occupation by Nazi Germany Watson argues that a unique series of devastating military defeats helped shape the resilient proud innovative character of the French
Thisis a history of breathtaking ambition propelled bythecharacters Watson brings to vivid lifethewriters revolutionaries and painters who loved inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years It documentstheshaping of a nationwhose global influence in art culture and politics cannot be overstated
An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles rooted in the Enlightenment and French Revolution while remaining slim bringing up wellbehaved children and falling in love at every opportunity The Times
An engaging movement through time towards Frances recent reckonings with extremism exceptionalism and empire TLS
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