The Discovery of France (平装)
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品牌: Graham Robb
基本信息出版社:W.W. Norton & Co. (2008年10月17日)外文书名:法国发现平装:496页正文语种:英语ISBN:0393333647条形码:9780393333640产品尺寸及重量:20.8 x 14 x 3.6 cm ; 409 gASIN:0393333647商品描述内容简介"A witty, engaging narrative style....[Robb's] approach is particularly engrossing."—New York Times Book Review, front-page review.A narrative of exploration—full of strange landscapes and even stranger inhabitants—that explains the enduring fascination of France. While Gustave Eiffel was changing the skyline of Paris, large parts of France were still terra incognita. Even in the age of railways and newspapers, France was a land of ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communication networks, and pre-Christian beliefs. French itself was a minority language.Graham Robb describes that unknown world in arresting narrative detail. He recounts the epic journeys of mapmakers, scientists, soldiers, administrators, and intrepid tourists, of itinerant workers, pilgrims, and herdsmen with their millions of migratory domestic animals. We learn how France was explored, charted, and colonized, and how the imperial influence of Paris was gradually extended throughout a kingdom of isolated towns and villages.The Discovery of Franceexplains how the modern nation came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France—past and present—remains to be discovered. ANew York TimesNotable Book,Publishers WeeklyBest Book,SlateBest Book, andBooklistEditor's Choice.
编辑推荐From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review.France is often regarded as the center of elegant civilization, so it's surprising to find that as late as 1890, most of the population was far from civilized—outside the confines of sophisticated Paris, as noted biographer Robb explains in his riveting exploration of France's historical geography, great swathes of countryside were terra incognita: dark places inhabited by illiterate tribes professing pre-Christian beliefs and lethally hostile to outsiders. They spoke not French but regional dialects; much of the country had not been accurately mapped; and many in the rural areas lacked surnames. The author himself embarked on a 14,000-mile bicycle tour of the France passed over in tourist guides. The result is a curious, engrossing mix of personal observation, scholarly diligence and historical narrative as Robb discusses the formation of both the French character and the French state. Robb's biographies of Victor Hugo, Rimbaud and Balzac were all selected by theNew York Timesas among the best books of the year, an accolade that assures a select readership will be eager to pack his newest alongside their Michelin guides. 8 pages of b&w illus, maps.(Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.
Review
An astute sociological catalogue of France's changing idea of itself....will delight even the most indolent armchair traveler. --France Telegraph
Scintillating and resourceful. --John Leonard,Harper's
This is, above all, a careful and tolerant book: impossible to think of better qualities in a traveling companion. --Ruth Scurr,The Nation
[Robb] penetrates so skillfully into the murky, often misunderstood history of [France]. --Booklist