The Discovery of France (Paperback)
$12.92 - Save $2.89 18% off - RRP $15.81 Free shipping worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for The Discovery of France The perfect holiday read (pre, post or during)
Full description- Publisher: PICADOR
- Published: 04 July 2008
- Format: Paperback 454 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: European History | Social & Cultural History | Travel Writing
- ISBN 13: 9780330427616 ISBN 10: 033042761X
- Sales rank: 9,524
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Reviews for The Discovery of France
- Staff review
The Discovery of France
In a nutshell, Graham Robb's historical geography of France from the time of the French Revolution up until the First World War tells us that prior to the Great War France wasn't really a united nation state at all. The rulers ruled in Paris, but much of the rest of the country was filled with peasants who didn't give a fig for Paris and whom Paris cared for even less in return. It took the awful, needless slaughter of the 14-18 War to forge France into nation we know today.
The result of 14,000 miles criss crossing the backwaters of the pays by bicycle (and four years spent researching in the library), Graham Robb's excellent book is an astonishing achievement. Part travelogue, part iconoclastic history, The Discovery of France is a wonderfully subversive social history of the French peasantry. This is popular academic writing at its best: well researched, but with a captivating new story to tell. You'll never think about France (or nationhood) in the same way ever again. by Mark Thwaite
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