France: A Short History

by Jeremy Black

A short and entertaining narrative of France from prehistory to the present, recounting the great events and personalities that helped create France’s cultural and political influence today. Country and destination, nation and idea, France has a rich and complex history that fascinates the world and attracts millions of visitors each year to its chateaux and cathedrals, boulevards and vineyards. In this succinct and entertaining volume, historian Jeremy Black narrates how France’s past has created its distinct character and powerful artistic, intellectual, and political influence across the globe. Black takes readers from the cave paintings of Lascaux and the origins of Gothic architecture, to Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and the Lumiere brothers, and even into the cataclysm of the 1789 revolution, the countercultural student protests of 1968, and the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) today. His account presents a vivid take on history that emphasizes the unexpected nature of events and unpredictable outcomes of a fragmented and crisis-prone nation. In retelling France’s story, Black explores some of its most famous philosophy, literature, art, and architecture―and ties them to the military, political, and cultural shifts that led to their development. With color illustrations, France is a short, easy-to-digest history of a vast subject, and a helpful guide to understanding France today. 24 color illustrations

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

Published March 23, 2021

About the author

Jeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).

Reviews

[Chrisorc · Rating 1 out of 5]

It reads like a series of small Wikipedia articles without the ‘aftermath’ section. Extremely brief and too speedy for its own good. It also requires you to know way too much beforehand.

I wouldn’t recommend it at all.

[Owen McArdle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like the French history I knew was the odd snippet here and there rather than an actual narrative, and this really helped me get an idea of the ordering of events and how they linked to one another

[Amirmasoud · Rating 4 out of 5]

برای من کتاب بسیار مفیدی بود. تاریخ فرانسه را به صورت خیلی فشرده از دوران پیشاتاریخ شروع کرده و هر چه جلوتر می‌آید مفصلتر می‌شود. برای رسیدن به یک آشنایی کلی با تاریخ فرانسه کتاب بسیار خوبی بود.
یکی از نکات مثبت کتاب این است که تا شرایط سیاسی امروز فرانسه هم پیش می‌آید.
از نکات فرهنگی و شرایط اجتماعی و مردمی فرانسه در دوران مختلف نیز غافل نمانده و صرفاً داستان زندگی شاهان و حاکمان نیست.
البته ترجمه به نظر بنده می‌توانست خیلی بهتر باشد.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, short history of France, focused on politics and economics, less on culture and art, but still a good background and enjoyable and useful for our trip in June. I finished half before we left but didn’t want to leave such a good book u read even though the purpose for reading it had passed - so I read the other half upon return. And next up- onto books about Italy our next travel destinations.

[Lolo · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

Unfortunately, I really struggled to get through this and ended up giving up on page 68 (out of 221 pages).
I know a little about English history and basically nothing of French.
So, I was hoping to build up my knowledge of French history with this book.
However, this is a very dry and very messy read.
It amounts to lists of names and dates, and a sentence or two of event context.
I saw others had said this too but was willing to give it a go, being happy for any introduction to French history.
But it was too hard to take much in with that format.

And to make it harder, there were references within these snippets of other historical moments "similar" to the one currently being spoken of.
Making the book feel less linear, and much more like it is jumping around.
I don't need to know that this event was the biggest version of it until a similar event two hundred years from it with X and Y regents.
Just tell me about that event when we get to it, otherwise it becomes too overloaded with information and makes it hard to actually keep track.

"Charlemagne (r.768 - 814 as king of the Franks), Pepin III's son, and a great military leader, proved far more successful than the Merovingians, rather as Napoleon for much of his reign was more successful than his predecessors, the Bourbons." page 30

Napoleon does not show up for a long time, we do not need to tie him in yet.
When throwing around lots of dates and people - Keep it simple. Keep it linear (as much as possible).

I did learn some key points, but I had to work hard to get very little back.
So, I ended up repeatedly thinking that I could just find a more user-friendly and efficient way to learn all this.
And so gave up on this one.

It is probably great as a reference tool, but it is not a good read.

[♠️Mateusz♣️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

While quite informative, especially for an attempt at „short”-ening and generalising the vast timeline of Frankish and consequently French history, the Short History of France is not always enjoyable and may put the reader through many hardships.

As the title implies the books contains omissions and some parts of history may feel as only briefly explained, whereas other consist of far more details and are written much more in-depth. Nevertheless this is to be expected, and the author does a good job at balancing what the reader gets out of the chapters, while saving more complicated parts of French history for more investigative amateur-historians.

They will surely appreciate the further reading list at the end of the book.

However, the reader may sometimes encounter cracks in the mostly successful teetering between edges of TMI and an entry-level non-fiction lecture.

Not straying from listings of Kings, paintings, or places of cultural or historical importance in a streak of lengthy sentences - sometimes paragraph - the author tests patience and diligence of the reader. These could be put in footnotes, where they would not get in the way of the more fast-paced readers.

All in all, the book is what the title says it is - most of them time of course.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, easy read. Good summary of French history spanning prehistoric to the current era. Perfect for my purpose of scanning (and remembering) French history in preparation for a trip to France.

As is necessary, I guess for any brief history, it seems to give short shrift to quite a few important areas. For example, no real discussion of the 30 years war, Descartes never mentioned. The language can be convoluted at times too. I suppose it's inevitable that the succession of kings in the 17th and 18th centuries can be confusing I had a more difficult time than usual keeping track of everything.

The author has written quite a few books and I actually think it smacks of being written quickly. It may have benefited from a little more editing. Still it is OK as a quick primer for a scan of French history.

[Maxime Fischer-Zernin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abandoned early. A list of dates and names.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise, clear, quick, what it sez on the tin

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a school text book, too many dates, too much crammed in, not an enjoyable read at all. Will be more sélective for my French History in future.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Presented a series of unconnected vignettes, with little in the way of an overarching narrative or theme, this short history manages to cover everything about France while saying nothing at all.

[Sarah Chappell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to read to get an overall context for France. It’s short but rich with many helpful details.

[Mircea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am vrut o lectură sumară în ceea ce privește istoria Franței, dar nu am primit nici măcar „o trecere în revistă”.

[Pierre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for what it is, great for a quick read.
I love how Jeremy Black breaks down history by centuries.

[Beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who need to learn history starting from "the beginning," this is the perfect book. Opening with pre-Roman occupation, Black walks you through the history of the land we now call France play by play in a delightfully concise, yet impressively thorough, sprint.

Perfect for those planning their travels or recently returned looking to get a broad overview. Quite quickly (less than 300 pages), you'll cover the most noteworthy historical events with an emphasis on patterns and themes. This book may be less useful to someone already knowledgable on French history unless their focus is quite narrow (e.g. the French Revolution) and they wish to have more context on French history as a whole.

I am hopeful that more authors will write history in this style!