|
Product Description
"A witty, engaging narrative style…[Robb's] approach is particularly engrossing." ―New York Times Book Review
A narrative of exploration―full of strange landscapes and even stranger inhabitants―that explains the enduring fascination of France. While Gustave Eiffel was changing the skyline of Paris, large parts of France were still terra incognita. Even in the age of railways and newspapers, France was a land of ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communication networks, and pre-Christian beliefs. French itself was a minority language.
Graham Robb describes that unknown world in arresting narrative detail. He recounts the epic journeys of mapmakers, scientists, soldiers, administrators, and intrepid tourists, of itinerant workers, pilgrims, and herdsmen with their millions of migratory domestic animals. We learn how France was explored, charted, and colonized, and how the imperial influence of Paris was gradually extended throughout a kingdom of isolated towns and villages.
The Discovery of France explains how the modern nation came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France―past and present―remains to be discovered.
A New York Times Notable Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book, Slate Best Book, and Booklist Editor's Choice.
16 pages of illustrationsCustomers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe
- The Discovery of Middle Earth: Mapping the Lost World of the Celts
- The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England
- Seven Ages of Paris
- THE BONJOUR EFFECT
- Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French
- The Story of French
- How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City
- Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris
- France: A History: from Gaul to de Gaulle
*If this is not the "The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Nov 9, 2024 05:03 +08.