A fresh, radical history of France and its place in the world that offers short, accessible articles on topics ranging from the Chauvet Cave all the way to the events of 2015.
Patrick Boucheron, born in 1965, is a French historian. He
previously taught medieval history at the cole normale superieure
and the University of Paris, and is currently a professor of
history at the Coll ge de France. He is the author of twelve books
and the editor of five, including France in the World, which became
a bestseller in France.
Stephane Gerson is a cultural historian and a professor of French
studies at New York University. He has won several awards,
including the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History and the
Laurence Wylie Prize in French Cultural Studies. He lives in
Manhattan and Woodstock, New York, with his family.
“A kaleidoscopic anthology of brief, vivid essays considering
French culture from prehistoric times to today.” —New York Times
Book Review
“Boucheron presents French history as a product of diverse ethnic
and geographical influences.” —New York Times Magazine
“A major work, exhaustive, controversial and fresh—and entirely
relevant to Anglophone readers…[France in the World’s authors]
deploy literary verve and narrative skill.” —The Guardian
“This provocative history of France cover[s] a striking array of
topics…The aim of this disparateness is to replace a nationalist
narrative of linear progression, from the Gauls to now, with a web
of surprising transnational connections.” —The New Yorker
“After several decades of somnolence, academic history is a
hit…[France in the World] marks the arrival of a new generation of
historians, full of energy and élan…in hooking essays onto events,
[this collection] forces the reader to see the past from a
different perspective, one that is not merely global but also
connected with current issues.” —Robert Darnton, New York
Review of Books
“An eclectic and forward-looking history…engaging…Patrick Boucheron
and his merry band of historians have succeeded in putting more
dynamic and inclusive…visions of Frenchness back into the
limelight…their bracing scholarship looks set to shape the agenda
of historical research and civic debate in France for years to
come.” —Times Literary Supplement
“Traditional readings of French history are challenged in this
fascinating, often provocative collection…entertaining and grounded
in good scholarship…Its translation deserves a wide readership in
the anglophone world.” —Financial Times
“Lively…The book is meant to serve as a reaction to the idea that
there exists a single version of French history, and…it’s hard to
argue, both on the virtue of the book’s content and also the
success of it, that it hasn’t succeeded in making that argument.”
—TIME
“Boucheron shines a refreshing new light on the history of France.”
—France-Amérique
“A most inviting entree to the breadth of French
history…Approachable and entertaining, yet academically
driven, France in the World is written by historians
intent on helping readers make use of France’s singular past.”
—Foreword Reviews
“From Charles the Fat to Coco Chanel, France in the
World manages to be both entertaining and encyclopedic.
Diderot would approve.” —Sue Prideaux, author of I Am
Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche
“How often does one come upon a book produced by dozens of authors
covering centuries that is absolutely a joy to read! This
collection of essays reframes French history by expanding
historical time from the arrival of humans in ‘France’ long before
there is a France. The consistency of style and talent is
stunning—to say nothing of the rich content. One can read this book
front to back, or by choosing topics from its rich table of
contents. Each ‘chapter’ is at once stand-alone and an element in
the narrative of a truly longue durée.” —Thomas Bender,
author of A Nation Among Nations: America’s Place in World
History
“We often say that ‘the past is a foreign country.’ France in
the World brilliantly shows us that understanding the past of
any country requires insistent rethinking of what ‘foreign’
means. The histories in this collection render visible the
often starkly political reasons certain minor distinctions are
transformed into forbidding walls. Boucheron and company have
pioneered an approach to ‘French’ history that we—from the other
side of the Atlantic or the Channel—need in order to understand the
world in which we live and comprehend how we got here.” —Todd
Shepard, author of The Invention of Decolonization: The
Algerian War and the Remaking of France
“France in the World offers fascinating insights into the ways
a nation is shaped by borders and gateways, by the perspectives of
its citizens and peoples throughout the world. This wonderful new
English translation has much to teach us not only about French
history, but about our own as well.” —Tyler Stovall, author
of Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light
“France in the World pushes against the traditional narrative
of an ‘eternal France’ as a linear path of national development,
from the Gauls to the Revolution and beyond. Instead, this
inclusive history shows how much what we call ‘France’ has been
molded by interactions with the world. By recovering
this longue durée diversity, it offers both hope and
suggestions for how to think about France’s continued dynamism.”
—Emmanuelle Saada, author of Empire’s Children: Race,
Filiation, and Citizenship in the French Colonies
“This sweeping, ambitious volume explores France’s place in the
world from the dawn of humanity to the twenty-first century. Rather
than a superficial overview of French history, the book offers
dozens of in-depth snapshots of key moments that shaped both France
and its relationship to the wider world. Beautifully translated
from the original French, France in the World will be of
profound interest to readers of French history and world history,
revealing the events and forces that have made the two inextricably
linked.” —Brett Rushforth, author of Bonds of Alliance:
Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France
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