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Bezig met laden... France: A History: from Gaul to de Gaulledoor John Julius Norwich
   TLS 6011 (37) Bezig met laden...
 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  bibliotecayamaguchi | Sep 29, 2023 |   The second Viscount Norwich or the late John Julius Cooper if you prefer, wrote and finished his final book, not long before he died. This book is similar to an ode or a love letter to France, all but a short one. This book he states in his preface (yes, I do read them), states that this book is not aimed at the historians amongst us, but the general reader. As a historian, my attitude to France, nice country shame about the people, is not all together positive. While having a working knowledge of French history, it is not an area that I particularly find interesting. But that is me. So, I could come to this with a fresh pair of eyes and might learn something in the process. This is a lengthy tome at 400 pages but fortunately it is not as dry as dust, it is an interesting read. Cooper might not like this comparison if he were alive, but reading this book is like listening to your Grandfather take you by the hand as if telling you a story. There is something of the comfort blanket being wrapped around you, rather than a book that lectures you about the great and good in French history. We even learn that he first crossed the channel to France in 1936, and so began a love affair with a country other than his own. The tone is very much conversational, dotted with anecdotes, a device which most historians use to remember facts and details around an event. This is a well written and researched book that takes us gently through French history and makes it easy for those who are not historians to remember parts of French history hitherto had been unknown to them. This is an excellent way to teach the facts, especially if you are about to visit France for the first time, without being preached at. For a history book this is a fun and interesting read for any reader. (  ) atticusfinch1048 | Jun 18, 2019 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
'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 TELEGRAPHI 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. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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 Google Books — Bezig met laden...GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)944History and Geography Europe France and regionLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde: (3.92)
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El general Charles de Gaulle dijo: «Francia no puede ser Francia sin la grandeza». El país galo es célebre por su gastronomía, sus paisajes, su cultura y su historia, en la que destacan personajes legendarios como Vercingétorix, Carlomagno, Juana de Arco, Luis XIV, María Antonieta o Napoleón, además de inolvidables batallas como Crécy, Agincourt, San Quintín, Bailén o Waterloo.
En este volumen, John Julius Norwich, uno de los historiadores más destacados de nuestro tiempo, nos ofrece una historia completa a la par que concisa de Francia, país que siempre lo fascinó. Desde la conquista por parte de los romanos hasta el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, pasando por las grandes dinastías medievales, la consolidación del Antiguo Régimen, la Revolución, Vichy o la Resistencia, Norwich nos acompaña en un recorrido por veinte siglos de historia, a menudo violenta pero siempre fascinante. Por estas páginas desfilan conocidos héroes y villanos, pero también personajes olvidados dignos de elogio.
Con la destreza, elegancia y humor que caracterizan su pluma, Norwich nos brinda un relato magistral y vívido de la historia del país que quizá más ha influido en la historia y cultura europeas.