The French Mind by Peter Watson - ISBN: 9781471128981
Paperback
Explore France’s captivating history through its thinkers, revolutions, and lasting influence.

The French Mind

400 Years of Romance, Revolution and Renewal

$29.58

  • Paperback

    848 pages

  • Release Date

    3 July 2024

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Summary

‘Majestic, ambitious’ *Literary Review*

We are endlessly fascinated by the French. We are fascinated by their way of life, their creativity and sophistication, and even their insistence that they are exceptional. But how did France become the country it is today, and what really sets it apart?

Historian Peter Watson sets out to answer these questions in this dazzling history of France, taking us from the seventeenth century to the pr…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781471128981
ISBN-10:1471128989
Author:Peter Watson
Publisher:Simon & Schuster Ltd
Imprint:Simon & Schuster Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:848
Release Date:3 July 2024
Weight:594g
Dimensions:198mm x 130mm x 51mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Majestic, ambitious … [Peter Watson] deserves admiration for the grace and agility with which he interlinks the development of a vigorous cultural identity and the seismic shifts of French national history, continually lurching between triumph and disaster. Impressive enough in its scope, authority and sprightliness to leave us wondering whether a French writer could have managed the task quite as deftly’ * Literary Review *
‘An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles … while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity’ * The Times *
‘He unfurls his intellectual history in the form of vivid biographies … [an] engaging movement through time towards France’s recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire … perceptive’ * TLS *
‘A love for France radiates from this book’ * Financial Times *

About The Author

Peter Watson

Peter Watson is a journalist, television presenter, and historian of ideas. He served as a senior editor of the Sunday Times, the New York correspondent for The Times, and a columnist for the Observer. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times and The Spectator. His books, translated into over 25 languages, include:

  • Ideas: A History from Fire to Freud
  • The German Genius
  • The French Mind
  • Convergence: The Idea at the Heart of Science

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