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The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography Paperback – Illustrated, October 17, 2008

by Graham Robb (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 513 ratings
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"A witty, engaging narrative style…[Robb's] approach is particularly engrossing." ―New York Times Book 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 France explains 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.

A New York Times Notable Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book, Slate Best Book, and Booklist Editor's Choice.

16 pages of illustrations
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    496 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    October 17, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393333647
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393333640
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brilliant. Robb, who writes beautifully…has accomplished quite a feat. He has reintroduced France to itself."
― William Grimes, New York Times

"Scintillating and resourceful."
― Harper's

About the Author

Graham Robb is the author of three prize-winning biographies, each selected as New York Times Best Books. His books, including The Discovery of Middle Earth, Parisians, and The Discovery of France, have earned several awards. He lives on the Anglo-Scottish border.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (October 17, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393333647
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393333640
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 513 ratings

About the author

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Graham Robb

Graham Robb

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Graham Robb, whose recent books include "The Discovery of France" and "Parisians," has published widely in French literature and history. His biographies of Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Rimbaud have won critical acclaim and were selected as New York Times Editor’s Choices for best books of the year. Robb lives in Oxford, England.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
513 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reece
5.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, but good!
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024
Verified Purchase
I would not recommend this if your focus is on political history.

Even so, my guess is that this book has taught me more about France as a whole than a political textbook would have. For cultural, social, and economic history, it covers broadly and, as far as I can see, fairly and from many different angles. It is an easy read, and entertaining. I think this would be great for anyone wanting to know more about “provincial” (non-Parisian) France, and to remove misconceptions and stereotypes held even by the French themselves. Be advised: this may ruin things for you if you are a tourist! Rest assured, if you don’t have your heart set on aesthetics and romance, it may even make things more interesting.

One thing I would advise anyone planning to buy this book is to study French geography. I really struggled with this. Place names are invoked often, and having a spatial relationship between them could really help with visualization.
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William L. Scurrah
4.0 out of 5 stars History of the Real France
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2022
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This truly fascinating book explores the history of the common folk of France, those far from the metropolitan centers of Paris and other major cities. What emerges is a detailed story of peasants, herders, small craftsmen, and parish priests who knew more folklore than theology, and networks of communication and trade that were surprisingly effective and efficient. As is true of most large countries, the cultural and political elites of the metropolitan centers represent only a small percentage of the total population, and these elites can be surprised when the folk rebel against their "civilizing" projects. Likewise, foreign tourists can be misled by the high culture of Paris into thinking that that represents the true France. Au contraire!

I gave this wonderful book only four stars because my copy of the Kindle edition omitted the illustrations.
3 people found this helpful
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Jordan Hedberg
5.0 out of 5 stars A New Way to Write History
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2013
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Humans desire historical understanding of sensational events, we crave causation regarding an occasion that falls outside the norm. Very few books deal with the mundane, deal with details of past generations that we moderns have forgotten. The curse of history is that once we require answers to past cultures, the information has been lost to time. We then rely on archaeologists to put the very few remaining pieces together and despite their best efforts, traditions and daily routines vanish.

There are a few authors, tenured professors mostly, that decide to write on the mundane daily events of the past. However, the texts of those professors are without passion, boring, and written for a community of other professors that will argue to the point of tears about irrelevant dribble to retain tenure. Once in a great while, a history text breaks the boring mediocrity of tenured-academic history.

The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography is one of the greatest histories I have ever read. The author takes the unglamorous and normal conditions of the so called French countryside and brings them back from the brink of irrelevance. French history has always been centered on Paris, but the city of Paris was not the norm in the area called France, it was the sensational, the oddity. This book tears away the obsession on Parisians. Graham Robb's text is fascinating, well written, and brings to the fore of history a world we have forgotten. All other histories on France seem shallow and incomplete in the face of this text.

I might even go so far as to suggest that this book should be the template for other histories. Focusing on seemingly mundane events and bringing them to life in a narrative fashion. If more historians followed the example set by Graham Robb than perhaps the profession of historian could once again become relevant and usefulness in society.
5 people found this helpful
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Joseph M. Powers
3.0 out of 5 stars it's a ramble
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2008
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Robb has generated a book which taught me much about a place I know little--France beyond Paris. The book seems a compilation of provincial lore and wisdom accumulated over several years' of bicycle travel through this country of peoples. It was generally enjoyable, but like a long uphill climb, was tiring in places. I often enjoy books in this genre, but I found this one occasionally lacking. I still recommend it, for it will open most readers' eyes to new notions, and the author is competent. I most enjoyed the section describing Cassini's mapping of France.

My lack of enthusiasm may be because I did not find the book to be tightly structured, and I sometimes found myself wanting a crisper roadmap for the direction of the text. I also wanted a better roadmap of France in the illustrations, as the many localities described had me turning to my own atlas much of the time. The major theses of the book are lightly woven into the text. One mildly recurring theme is a whiff of anti-clericism. At one point the author suggested the Church had more to fear from latent paganism than the revolutionaries of 1789; I suspect the thousands of clergy who were massacred by the Republicans after seeing their churches destroyed and properties taken might come to a different conclusion.
39 people found this helpful
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frank c
5.0 out of 5 stars Discover French Regions through the centuries
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024
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What a great book if you have any interest in France and its departments!!!
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Nick
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2008
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France is more than just Paris! There seems to be little written on life in provincial France and the author has certainly filled that void with this book. Who would have thought that life in rural France was so backward compared to not only Paris, but rural life in other European countries? Peasants at this time prayed to stone fertility statues, believed in werewolves and witches and were very ignorant of life outside of their little village--and most didn't even speak French.

This book is chock full of the history of cartographers, early travelers as well as daily life and thought.

There was a France long before there were the French.

If you're interested in French history, this is a must read.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars Totally novel take
Reviewed in Canada on May 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
4.5 stars. First the bad: as other reviewers have pointed out, at times the author has a way of slightly overstating his case. Moreover, unless you are REALLY interested in some of these anecdotes, the book drags a little bit near the end - I would say with more aggressive editing it could have been 10 or 15% shorter and remained just as good.

But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author succeeds in what he sets out to do: to dislocate "French" history and culture from Paris and to examine the periphery. A subtitle for this book could have been: How Paris colonized France. If you have even a passing interest in France, I would say this book is essential reading, it's really changed the way I think about both France in particular and nationalism in general. Highly recommended.
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Sandra Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars An adventure I will always return to
Reviewed in Mexico on November 19, 2020
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I truly recommend this book. It is beautifully written.
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Un description étonnante de la France
Reviewed in France on April 11, 2022
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Une description étonnante, mais tellement vrais de la France et son histoire, Bien documenté et précis. À lire absolument pour une compréhension de la France contemporaine
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A S N
5.0 out of 5 stars Its a discovery of France for sure. Not of its rulers, fortunately.
Reviewed in India on October 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
I am half way through it and it gives me what I was looking for. A people’s history and not that of the kings, which I was familiar with. I’ll be in a position to edit this and make it more helpful in about two weeks time.
3 people found this helpful
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Alex
3.0 out of 5 stars French HISTORY book
Reviewed in Spain on August 31, 2017
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I was originally looking for a book on modern day France and I thought this book would be more about the author's journey around the country but it is just about the history of France. It seems very well researched and detailed but wasn't really my thing so I gave it to my father who enjoys reading about history.
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