France: A History: from Gaul to de Gaulle

Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: John Murray (4 April 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1473663849

ISBN-13: 978-1473663848

Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.5 x 19.7 cm

作品简介

'For his final book, the late Norwich tackled the dauntingly vast subject of two millennia of French history with admirable lightness and urbanity . . . his comic footnotes deserve a review of their own' DAILY TELEGRAPH

I can still feel, as if it were yesterday, the excitement of my first Channel crossing (as a child of nearly 7) in September 1936; the regiment of porters, smelling asphyxiatingly of garlic in their blue-green blousons; the raucous sound all around me of spoken French; the immense fields of Normandy strangely devoid of hedges; then the Gare du Nord at twilight, the policemen with their kepis and their little snow-white batons; and my first sight of the Eiffel Tower . . . This book is written in the belief that the average English-speaking man or woman has remarkably little knowledge of French history. We may know a bit about Napoleon or Joan of Arc or Louis XIV, but for most of us that's about it. In my own three schools we were taught only about the battles we won: Crecy and Poitiers, Agincourt and Waterloo. The rest was silence. So here is my attempt to fill in the blanks . . .

John Julius Norwich's last book is the book he always wanted to write: the extremely colourful story of the country he loves best. 

From frowning Roman generals and belligerent Gallic chieftains, to Charlemagne (hated by generations of French children taught that he invented schools) through Marie Antoinette and the storming of the Bastille to Vichy, the Resistance and beyond, FRANCE is packed with heroes and villains, adventures and battles, romance and revolution. Full of memorable stories and racy anecdotes, this is the perfect introduction to the country that has inspired the rest of the world to live, dress, eat -- and love better.

约翰朱利叶斯诺里奇的最后一本书是他一直想写的书：他最喜欢这个国家的极其丰富多彩的故事。

从皱眉的罗马将军和好战的高卢头衔，到查理曼，通过玛丽·安托瓦内特和巴士底狱袭击维希，抵抗军和其他地方，法国充满了英雄和恶棍，冒险和战斗，浪漫和革命，充满了令人难忘的故事和充满活力的轶事，这是一个完美的国家介绍，激发了世界其他地方的生活，著装，饮食和更好的爱。

编辑/媒体推荐

Always a warm, welcoming guide, John Julius Norwich takes us on a historical tour of France from its earliest days to the twenty-first century . . . A highly entertaining introduction to a fascinating nation - History Revealed Magazine

Norwich romps through French history with lots of good stories: philandering kings, dread plagues and legendary dinners - The Times

For his final book, the late Norwich tackled the dauntingly vast subject of two millennia of French history with admirable lightness and urbanity. There is the odd whiff, probably deliberate, of 1066 and All That - "The Capetians had steadily built up France, transforming it from a Carolingian custard into a nation" - and his comic footnotes deserve a review of their own - The Daily Telegraph, Summer Reads

A richly illuminating work . . . Norwich was a wonderful military historian - Times Literary Supplement

Almost the best thing in it is the author's short epilogue, 'The Essence of France', in which he listed what he loved most about that enchanting, if occasionally exasperating, country - its architecture, its painting and its music. These were among Norwich's greatest passions, which he invariably conveyed with authority, charm and wit. - Desmond Seward History Today

A story told with charm and obvious enthusiasm for the subject ... My children constantly ask why the GCSE syllabus cannot be an introduction to British history rather than a somewhat esoteric dive into Weimar, Nazi Germany and Russia. What they want is a comprehensive, approachable and enjoyable survey of the story of our islands - and that is exactly what John Julius Norwich has written about France . . . The attraction of this commendable short history is that it's as entertaining as it is informative, written with fluency, wit and a nicely understated humour: a real pleasure-almost compelling-to read. - Country Life

Norwich treats history like a friendly fireside chat. - Sunday Independent

The tone of France is avuncular, worldly and witty; it is like having dinner with an urbane, well-read uncle. - Country & Town House

There is certainly a need for a concise history of France in English and, in many ways, John Julius Norwich is the ideal man to write it . . . Norwich has a love for France that stretches back to his childhood and it is evident throughout this readable, entertaining book. - Sunday Times

This warm, delightful short history of France, aimed convivially at the general reader, is his love letter to the country he knew so well. - The Spectator

作者简介

John Julius Norwich was born in 1929. After National Service, he took a degree in French and Russian at New College, Oxford. In 1952 he joined the Foreign Service, serving at the embassies in Belgrade and Beirut and with the British Delegation to the Disarmament Conference at Geneva. 

His publications include The Normans in Sicily; Mount Athos (with Reresby Sitwell); Sahara; The Architecture of Southern England; Glyndebourne; and A History of Venice. He is also the author of a three-volume history of the Byzantine Empire. He has written and presented some thirty historical documentaries for television, and is a regular lecturer on Venice and numerous other subjects.

Lord Norwich is former chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund, co-chairman of the World Monuments Fund and a former member of the Executive Committee of the National Trust. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Geographical Society and the Society of Antiquaries, and a Commendatore of the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. He was made a CVO in 1993.

约翰·朱利叶斯·诺里奇生于1929年。从军为国效力之后，他在牛津大学新学院学习法语和俄语。1952年，他开始在英国外交部任职，曾在英国驻贝尔格莱德和贝鲁特使馆工作，并作为英国代表团成员参加了在日内瓦举行的裁军会议。

他的著作包括《诺曼人在西西里》《阿索斯山》（与里尔斯比·西特维尔合著）《撒哈拉》《英格兰南部建筑》《格莱因德伯恩》和《威尼斯史》。他还著有一部三卷本拜占庭历史（2018年由社科文献甲骨文陆续推出）。他创作并主持过约三十部历史题材的电视纪录片，并经常作关于威尼斯和其他诸多题材的讲座。

诺里奇勋爵是“拯救威尼斯”基金会前任主席、世界纪念性建筑基金会主席之一、国家名胜古迹信托机构执行委员会前成员。他还是英国皇家文学学会、皇家地理学会和文物研究学会成员，获得司令级别意大利共和国功勋勋章（CommendatoreOrdine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana）。他于1993年获得英国的司令级别皇家维多利亚勋章（CVO）。