A Traveller's History Of France (Traveller's Histories Series)

• Paperback - 31 January, 2005 - Interlink
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• By: Robert Cole and Denis Judd
• ISBN: 1566566061

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Reviews by readers

Quick & Dirty

When I travel I like to read the historic markers and understand the significance of what I am seeing. If I don't have a clue about the context ("the what dynasty was when?") I tend to feel lost and frustrated. Typically, I don't have the time in the weeks before my trip to digest an eight volume history of a country but would like a high level view of the important people, periods and events in the country's history. "A Traveller's History France" perfectly fit that bill.

Some of the features I liked are a list of all the French kings and their linneage, a timeline with all the relevant events and an alphabetical list of major events and battles. The writing is lucid, succinct as well as funny and opinionated. In this kind of book its important to convey a sense and a feel of entire century in the space of a paragraph and to stay connected to the larger political and social themes imbedded in the historical minutae. Robert Cole does this quite well.

The biggest negative for me is that half the book focuses on the last two hundred years and that is the period of French History I know best. I would have enjoyed more of a discussion of the rise of the monarchy, the British influence in France because of the various invasions and a richer discussion of the religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries.

interesting topic, poorly handled

The text is poorly written - often it is unclear who the author is even referring to. For example, "he died a year later." Well. . . . who?? Many such examples where if you don't already know the history, you may feel a bit lost.

Good Prep Work

A useful book that is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in France's history. A good introduction to an enormous topic - it serves the purpose. However, if you are looking for a detailed, in depth, insightful history of France or a guide book, this is not the book to buy... and it doesn't claim to be.

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