000			02012 a2200181 4500
008			230505b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9781398511507 (PB)
041			_aeng
080			_a930.85 _bWAT
100			_aWatson,Peter
245			_aThe French Mind _b400 Years of Romance, Revolution and Renewal
260			_bSimon & Schuster _c2022 _aLondon
300			_axlvii, 800 p
520			_aWe are endlessly fascinated by the French. We are fascinated by their way of life, their creativity, sophistication and self-assurance, and even their insistence that they are exceptional. But how did France become the country it is today, and what really sets it apart? Journalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answer these questions in The French Mind, a dazzling history of France that takes us from the seventeenth century to the present day through the nation's most influential thinkers. He opens the doors to the Renaissance salons that were a breeding ground for poets, philosophers and scientists, and tells the forgotten stories of the extraordinary succession of women who ran these institutions, fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else in the world. It's a story that takes us into Bohemian cafes and cabarets, into chic Parisian high culture via French philosophies of food, fashion and sex, while growing unrest hastens the bloody birth of a republic. From the 1789 revolution to the country's occupation by Nazi Germany, Watson argues that a unique series of devastating military defeats helped shape the resilient, proud, innovative character of the French. This is a history of breathtaking ambition, propelled by the characters Watson brings to vivid life: the writers, revolutionaries and painters who loved, inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years. It documents the shaping of a nation whose global influence, in art, culture and politics, cannot be overstated
650			_aFrance Civilisation
690			_aGeneral
942			_cBK _01
999			_c59808 _d59808