France: An Adventure History
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-06-26 17:21:36
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Graham Robb
- ISBN：1324002565
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This is a profoundly original and entertaining history of France， from the first century bc to the present day， based on countless new discoveries and thirty years of exploring France on foot， by bicycle and in the library。
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。 Along the way， readers will find the usual faces， events and themes of French history – Louis XIV， the French Revolution， the French Résistance， the Tour de France – but all presented in a shining new light。
Graham Robb’s France: An Adventure History does not offer a standard dry list of facts and dates， but a panorama of France， teeming with characters， full of stories， journeys and coincidences， giving readers a thrilling sense of discovery and enlightenment。 It is a vivid， living history of one of the world’s most fascinating nations by a ceaselessly entertaining writer in complete command of subject and style。
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。 Along the way， readers will find the usual faces， events and themes of French history – Louis XIV， the French Revolution， the French Résistance， the Tour de France – but all presented in a shining new light。
Graham Robb’s France: An Adventure History does not offer a standard dry list of facts and dates， but a panorama of France， teeming with characters， full of stories， journeys and coincidences， giving readers a thrilling sense of discovery and enlightenment。 It is a vivid， living history of one of the world’s most fascinating nations by a ceaselessly entertaining writer in complete command of subject and style。
Reviews
Steve
，
It’s worth saying that the book examines history differently than many other books。 Different chapters look at specific areas of France and focus on specific periods of time and on specific people。 The advantage of this is that it allows a deep dive into certain aspects of history。 On the other hand， the book only discusses that specific time period in that area and not other time periods in the same area。 So while the book progresses chronologically， there are huge gaps。 I liked the entertainin It’s worth saying that the book examines history differently than many other books。 Different chapters look at specific areas of France and focus on specific periods of time and on specific people。 The advantage of this is that it allows a deep dive into certain aspects of history。 On the other hand， the book only discusses that specific time period in that area and not other time periods in the same area。 So while the book progresses chronologically， there are huge gaps。 I liked the entertaining personal anecdotes which made the book more fun to read。 But I found the language much too formal。 Overall the book covered certain aspects very well， but suffers from huge gaps in history and the writing was overly complex but is still worthwhile reading。 Thank you to Netgalley and W。 W。 Norton & Company for the digital review copy。 。。。more
Ashley Hart
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This transports you to France。 Robb is a brilliant storyteller that almost tricks you into learning。 Love it！I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley。 The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own。
Brandon Westlake
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I really liked the tone of this book， although， I'm not really sure how I'd describe it。 It definitely bridges the gap between academic work and more popular work， and partly reads like a chronological history and part as a travelogue。 There is a lot I learned from these pages that I hadn't ever encountered before， and having read about it through Robb's journeys seemed to make it more relevant。 I really found the section on the Inquisitions the most interesting。 For a great read， I would make o I really liked the tone of this book， although， I'm not really sure how I'd describe it。 It definitely bridges the gap between academic work and more popular work， and partly reads like a chronological history and part as a travelogue。 There is a lot I learned from these pages that I hadn't ever encountered before， and having read about it through Robb's journeys seemed to make it more relevant。 I really found the section on the Inquisitions the most interesting。 For a great read， I would make one critique: I would have liked to have read a bit more about French cultural history。 This does a great job looking at the idea of France and how its political identity was shaped， but I think Robb could do justice but a follow up with looking at the pieces of French culture （cuisine， the tour， wine） that make up what it is today。 。。。more
Tina Panik
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Robb’s alchemy of traveler， historian， and storyteller create a successful， creative guide for lovers of France。 This was an ARC。
Tracie
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Graham Robb has bicycled thousands of miles over the decades in what is now France， and in this book， he takes readers along。 He begins in ancient Gaul with the tribes that fought against Julius Caesar。 The tribes had a network of listening posts and traces of ancient life can still be found on low hilltops near rivers in the topography of the land。 Robb moves forward to a sheepherder prodigy from Aurillac named Gerbert， who later became Pope in 999 after spending many years in Reims。 He took th Graham Robb has bicycled thousands of miles over the decades in what is now France， and in this book， he takes readers along。 He begins in ancient Gaul with the tribes that fought against Julius Caesar。 The tribes had a network of listening posts and traces of ancient life can still be found on low hilltops near rivers in the topography of the land。 Robb moves forward to a sheepherder prodigy from Aurillac named Gerbert， who later became Pope in 999 after spending many years in Reims。 He took the name Sylvester II and was scholarly and used ancient Roman and Arabic manuscripts to experiment with。 The author discusses the Cathers， describes maps featuring a particular tree， then follows a 1552 guidebook by Charles Estienne。 Robb then brings us forward with well-known as well as not well-known people right up until 2020。 This is an enjoyable， though serious， ride through the land of France and its history。 Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Vanessa
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France: An Adventure History by Graham Robb I found this book very interesting especially as France in now my second home。 This book is a great reference book and a fascinating read。 However， I did skip a few chapters it was so long！ but what I read was very good。
Wafflepirates
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*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*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。 Each chapter is a self-contained story， there is not much cohesion in how the history is approached， and there are often huge gaps not covered as the author bounces between topics。 Less comprehensive and more episodic， the author has compiled stories su *Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*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。 Each chapter is a self-contained story， there is not much cohesion in how the history is approached， and there are often huge gaps not covered as the author bounces between topics。 Less comprehensive and more episodic， the author has compiled stories surrounding historical events they find of interest， expounding on them as a storyteller might。 I was not interested in all of the chapters， but there were many that were very cool and covered interesting topic （my favorite was the one about the tree）。 I'd classify this as much more of a popular history book， it's readable and the author makes an attempt to be funny and engaging， anyone looking for a more academic approach to the history will be disappointed。 Overall， the concept is interesting， and while some chapters were weaker than others， this was an interesting read and a fairly unique take on popular history writing。 。。。more
Jo-anne Atkinson
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This is a book of several parts， a standard history， a travelogue and a memoir。 the three mesh together but not are all as successful。 I loved the idea of telling the history of France through a series of places and the places chosen were not the obvious and the history was not always the most well-known。 However I found the sections where Robb digressed into personal history a little twee and the endless desription of cycling and trains were too much。 Better editing would have improved this
Annarella
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