France: An Adventure History

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Robb is not afraid to weigh in on contemporary issues such as climate change and rampant development, as well as politics.

I want to know more about the scandal of the Murder of Madame Bovary, more theories into The Tree at the Center of France, or simply more recounts of Robb’s own stories of visiting the hidden parts of France. I enjoyed the chapters on both World Wars as well as the rather sad story of the Narcisse Pelletier (White Savage) and his experience of being stranded with a native tribe of Australian Aborigines. However, and I have to admit it, Robb successfuly, albeit with great frustration on my part, impart a sense of "adventure". This book is not merely an episodic puff piece about the pretty objects and culture richness that were created on French soil.I also found fascinating Robb’s description of how the Tour de France came to be such a huge event in France, one reason being that in its route across the country, it gave small towns and villages a sense of identity and pride that they were being noticed, however briefly. He took the name Sylvester II and was scholarly and used ancient Roman and Arabic manuscripts to experiment with.

We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar - Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France - but all are presented in a shining new light by Graham Robb. It was as if he purposefully tried explaining a painting with words, but without the benefit of a single temporal frame of reference, nor even, a contextial groundwork. A stunningly illustrated history of Venice, from its beginnings as 'La Serenissima' - 'the Most Serene Republic' - to the Italian city that continues to enchant visitors today.Ancient Gaul involved looking at very old maps and then trying to find modern traces, usually very faint, of travel routes and sometimes the mention of castkes and structures which have vanished, save for a location.

This is a fairly ambitious book, covering a huge amount of time in an attempt to give an impression of the whole history of France as a nation. Robb moves forward to a sheepherder prodigy from Aurillac named Gerbert, who later became Pope in 999 after spending many years in Reims.Please, dear stranger, do not confuse this with what Robb does from beginning to end, which was to follow French history from Vercingetorix's Gaul all the way to Macron's France (the latter is meant without offence). What he has done in this informative and hugely entertaining book is to interest himself in an generally unknown area, open it up and relate it to the broader history of France. Graham Robb bicycles through France, stopping in places and diving into a historical event that happened here. Beginning with the Roman army’s first recorded encounter with the Gauls and ending with the gilet jaunes protests in the era of Emmanuel Macron, each chapter is an adventure in its own right.

During the lockdown phase of Covid, my wife and I replaced our usual date nights – dinner and/or drinks out – with foreign language lessons.Part travelogue and part essay, this is a lively and thought-provoking homage to the complex and inimitable country that is France. Bhí sé ina Cheann Feadhna ar an champa géibhinn a raibh sé féin ina phríosúnach ann i dtuaisceart na Seapáine. The first stretches from ancient Gaul to the Renaissance; next, the second chronicles the time from Louis XIV to the Second Empire; and finally, part three covers the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics.