France

The Years is a personal narrative of the period of 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory....

“A dynamic group biography studded with design history and high-society dash . . . [This] elegantly wrought narrative bears the Cartier hallmark.”—The Economist The “astounding” (André Leon Talley) story of the family behind the Cartier empire and the three brothers who turned their...

From the bestselling author of The Storm Before the Storm and host of the Revolutions podcast comes the thrilling story of the Marquis de Lafayette’s lifelong quest to defend the principles of liberty and equality Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette...

Brought to you by Penguin. In six weeks in 1940, France was over-run by German troops and surrendered. One junior French general, refusing to accept defeat, made his way to England. On 18 June he spoke to his compatriots over the BBC, urging them to rally to him in London. At that moment...

When we think of France we often evoke images of fine food and wine, the elegant boulevards of Paris, the chic beaches of St Tropez....

The classic account of the Allied invasion of Normandy....

In December 1943, with the rising realization that the Allies are planning to invade Fortress Europe, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is assigned the title of General Inspector for the Atlantic Wall. His mission is to assess their readiness....

From the moment Peter Mayle and his wife, Jennie, uprooted their lives in England and crossed the Channel permanently, they never looked back. Here the beloved author of A Year in Provence pays tribute to the most endearing and enduring aspects of his life in France—the charming and indelible...

Getting Lost is the diary Annie Ernaux kept during the year and a half she had a secret love affair with a younger married man, a Russian diplomat. Her novel, Simple Passion, was based on this affair, but here her writing is immediate, unfiltered....

The first of two ground-breaking volumes on the Waterloo campaign, this audiobook is based upon a detailed analysis of sources old and new in four languages....

The day of 9 Thermidor is universally acknowledged as a major turning-point in the history of the French Revolution. At midnight, Maximilien Robespierre was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced....

This guide looks at the attitudes and values of Francophones, showing you how to fit in as a foreigner with practical advice on avoiding social faux pas.

These are entirely Napoleon Bonaparte's own words, written and spoken, and collected in journal form. A particular focus here has been put on Napoleon's writings that pertain to military and state matters. The dates in terms of the revolutionary calendar have been modernized....

As an international war correspondent and radio commentator, William L. Shirer didn't just research the fall of France. He was there. In just six weeks, he watched the Third Reich topple one of the world's oldest military powers - and institute a rule of terror and paranoia....

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE The captivating, deeply reported true story of how one of the most notorious novels ever written—Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom—landed at the heart of one of the biggest scams in modern literary history. “Reading The Curse of the Marquis de Sade...

When T. D. Allman purchased an 800-year-old house in the mountain village of Lauzerte in southwestern France, he aimed to find refuge from the world's tumults. Instead, he found that humanity’s most telling melodramas, from the paleolithic to the post-modern, were graven in its stones.

The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. From the perspective of half a century, it looks less like the last colonial war than the first postmodern one....

This audiobook narrated by Ako Mitchell exposes the racist legacy behind the Western idea of freedom....

Paris Reborn is a must-read for anyone who ever wondered how Paris, the city universally admired as a standard of urban beauty, became what it is....

The revolutions that raged across Europe and the Americas over seven decades, from 1760 to 1825, created the modern world. In The Age of Revolutions, historian Nathan Perl-Rosenthal offers the first narrative history of this entire era

Rok v Provenci je první částí volné trilogie vonící levandulí a chutnající po těch nejvybranějších lahůdkách a nejlepším víně...

The landmark history of France and French culture in the eighteenth-century, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize When the apprentices of a Paris printing shop in the 1730s held a series of mock trials and then hanged all the cats they could lay their hands on, why did they find it so...

A cogent, comprehensive, and sweeping account of Napoleon’s dismantling of the French Revolution, giving new insight into this critical period of French history....

A vibrant, enchanting tour of the Seine from longtime New York Times foreign correspondent and best-selling author Elaine Sciolino, The Seine offers a love letter to Paris and the most romantic river in the world, and invites listeners to explore its magic for themselves....

An insightful new biography of the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, focused on the man himself and based on newly accessible documents....

Little Book of Louis Vuitton is the captivating story of one of the world’s most luxurious fashion houses. Louis Vuitton’s monogrammed bags have been seen on the arms of celebrities and royals alike for over 150 years. From the young Louis seeking his fortune in Paris through to two world wars, the Great Depression, the Jazz Age and the Swinging Sixties, there is no era in which this most opulent of brands hasn’t thrived.

Through the generations, Hermès have created innovative and exquisite accessories for the most glamorous customers. From their nineteenth-century saddlery workshop to 1960s Paris and beyond, Hermès has graced the arms and wardrobes of style icons from Grace Kelly and Jane Birkin to Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian. The Little Book of Hermès tells the story of the evolution of the House of Hermès by fashion historian Karen Homer.

À travers l’histoire médiévale du village bourguignon de Ternay, Alain Carré nous raconte l’histoire de Cluny, et celle de l’occident chrétien face aux invasions des Sarasins… Il l’illustre de poésies d’époque sur un montage musical (psalmodies d’abbayes, musiques de trouvères, bruitages) du dessinateur sonore Antonio Da Palma.

Pourchassées, admirées, torturées, fantasmées, les sorcières ont, semble-t-il, tout vécu et s'infiltrent dans toutes les failles, toutes les peurs humaines. Leur histoire, au fil des siècles et des récits, raconte leur persécution autant que la construction d'une figure puissante, intrigante et mystérieuse. Au-delà des sabbats, bûchers, sortilèges et pactes avec le Diable, découvrez tout ce que les sorcières ont inspiré de beau et tragique, pour mieux les comprendre et décrypter tous les secrets qui entourent ces femmes énigmatiques !

In the tumultuous world of revolutionary France, the enigmatic diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord survived–and shaped–five regimes. Duff Cooper’s elegant biography reveals a man as brilliant as he was controversial; the ‘quick-witted little boy’ who enjoyed the anachronistic world of his great-grandmother’s château became the shrewd, silver-tongued servant of multiple kings and revolutionary leaders. From the salons of pre-revolutionary Paris to the negotiating tables of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna, the turncoat Talleyrand exercised his wit, pragmatism and moral ambiguity.

Французская революция XVIII века стала парадоксом для всего мира. Борьба за права человека и свободу народоизъявления обернулась кровавыми репрессиями и массовыми казнями. Революция уравняла права граждан перед законом — и вместе с тем их шансы оказаться под лезвием гильотины. Был ли террор хаотичным порождением казней Максимилиана Робеспьера или тщательно спланированной революционной политикой?

The Maginot Line was a marvel of 1930s engineering. The huge forts, up to eighty meters underground, contained hospitals, modern kitchens, telephone exchanges, and even electric trains. Kilometers of underground galleries led to casements hidden in the terrain, and turrets that rose from the ground to fire upon the enemy. The fortifications were invulnerable to the heaviest artillery and to chemical warfare. Despite this extensive preparation, France fell to Germany in a little under six weeks.

In 1786, France's ancien régime was functioning as usual. Its alliance with the victorious American colonies had restored its diplomatic prestige, the economy seemed to be flourishing, and internal politics seemed quiet. But just a few short years later, the dynasty which had ruled France for over 800 years was swept away. What happened to cause such devastating change to the long-established political structure?

Ce vaste livre audio de Louis Lurine fait revivre Paris rue par rue, comme un roman de la ville totale: de la boue de Lutèce aux pavés de Philippe‑Auguste, du Paris médiéval à la Renaissance, du Grand Siècle aux révolutions, chaque voie devient scène où défilent peuples, rois, artisans, criminels, savants, comédiens et exilés, entre faste, fureur et métamorphoses urbaines.

Todos los franceses conocen al Charles de Gaulle militar, al político, al hombre de Estado, y todos recuerdan su guasa, su ingenio, su sentido del humor y su habilidad para la réplica aguda. Y, por supuesto, su causticidad inimitable. Todos los que lo rodeaban fueron sus víctimas, al igual que ese partido político del que él declaraba: «No puedo decir que los deteste. Se puede detestar a Hitler o a Stalin. No se puede detestar la nada». Cada una de sus agudezas daba en el blanco, cualquiera que fuera el objetivo; pero el humor, feroz a más no poder, nunca era verdaderamente gratuito.