France review: John Julius Norwich's lively history of the country he loves


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France: A History from Gaul to de Gaulle


John Julius Norwich


France. By John Julius Norwich.

France. By John Julius Norwich.


Photo: Supplied

John Murray, $45


When Louis XVI was woken with news of the storming of the Bastille he sleepily asked: “Is it a rebellion?” “No,” replied Duc de la Rochefoucauld, “it’s a revolution.” John Julius Norwich’s history of France has just such a lively sense of play, whether looking at Roman France, Charlemagne or the way the French and English fell into the Hundred Years’ War. Not that he doesn’t take the subject seriously or know it thoroughly, having lived there most of his life, first before the war when his father, Duff Cooper, became the British ambassador to France. There are some wonderfully vivid portraits of the country he first encountered. There are more than three colours to France’s colourful history and this is a delightful introduction to it: comprehensive in its sweep, and intended to fill the gaps that he thinks some readers, particularly English, have.


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