Tugann na litreacha agus an dialann a choinnigh Frank an-léargas ar an saol mar a bhí le linn an chogaidh.

For example, I didn’t know how isolated and independent parts of France were in centuries past, to the point that they had unique languages that were barely connected with French. In addition to the language, we began to appreciate the culture, but France’s history wasn’t in our study plans. I was not interested in all of the chapters, but there were many that were very cool and covered interesting topic (my favorite was the one about the tree). More than 27’000 were killed in twelve hours, which is about half the number of American soldiers killed in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975. Original, knowledgeable and endlessly entertaining, France: An Adventure History is an unforgettable journey through France from the first century BC to the present day.

Though possibly the biggest highlight was the chapter on Napoleon and particular his exile on St Helena in the South Atlantic where he met and befriended the young child, Betsy Balcombe. I thought one of the most interesting stories was that of Louis Napoleon III, Bonaparte’s nephew, who took power in l848 and ruled until the defeat of the French in the Franco-German war of l870. Of all the essays in the book, this one felt most worthy of the adventure descriptor from the title. I also found fascinating Robb’s description of how the Tour de France came to be such a huge event in France, one reason being that in its route across the country, it gave small towns and villages a sense of identity and pride that they were being noticed, however briefly. Beginning with the Roman army's first recorded encounter with the Gauls and ending with the Gilets Jaunes protests in the era of Emmanuel Macron, each chapter is an adventure in its own right.

For a great read, I would make one critique: I would have liked to have read a bit more about French cultural history. From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar - Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France - but all are presented in a shining new light. I'd classify this as much more of a popular history book, it's readable and the author makes an attempt to be funny and engaging, anyone looking for a more academic approach to the history will be disappointed. First couple of chapters were needed to me to appreciate the style and the book came into its stride from the discussion about the tree at the centre of France - spotted on an old map and one of the places our author went to investigate.The author discusses the Cathers, describes maps featuring a particular tree, then follows a 1552 guidebook by Charles Estienne. He helped her with her French, and they played are usually dismissed, but Robb notes that she was honest and had no career nor political reputation to defend, as did many biographers of Napoleon. Maybe it’s just easier for me to connect to the Charlie Hebdo massacre than the Hundred Years War or Louis XIV in Flanders. However, and I have to admit it, Robb successfuly, albeit with great frustration on my part, impart a sense of "adventure". From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar – Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France – but all are presented in a shining new light by Graham Robb.

Other than Napoleon, the French Revolution, and Vichy France, I didn’t know much of anything about France’s history. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.I had a really difficult time just trying to describe what the author was trying to do with this book. It was challenging in terms of premise: France and the French are often seen from abroad as a cohesive (Parisian) monolith, and I will never see it that way again. This book is not merely an episodic puff piece about the pretty objects and culture richness that were created on French soil. He took the name Sylvester II and was scholarly and used ancient Roman and Arabic manuscripts to experiment with. He divides his book into three loose chronological parts, “Ancient Gaul to the Renaissance,” “Louis XIV to the Second Empire,” and “The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics.