Modern French History

Step into the enchanting world of French pâtisserie—the delicate, colorful, and utterly irresistible art of pastry that has captivated the world for centuries. From the royal kitchens of Versailles to the bustling cafés of Paris, The Art of French Pâtisserie takes you on a journey through history, culture, and innovation. Discover how legendary chefs like Antonin Carême and Auguste Escoffier transformed desserts into masterpieces, how Sunday family rituals made pastry part of everyday life, and how French techniques continue to inspire chefs around the globe. Filled with fascinating ...

Discover the city behind the legend. From its mythic origins along the Seine to the vibrant streets of the 21st century, Paris: Lives, Revolutions, and Resilience is the definitive history of the world’s most iconic city — told through the eyes of the people who lived it. Explore: • The myth, archaeology, and legends of early Paris. • The revolutions and uprisings that reshaped Europe. • The rise and fall of kings, emperors, and political powers. • The everyday lives of Parisians, from the Medieval period to the modern metropolis. • The cultural and intellectual innovations ...

Born in Blackness vitally reframes the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in the West, and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanizing engagement with the "dark" continent. In fact, French reveals, the first impetus for the Age of Discovery was not—as we are so often told, even today—Europe's yearning for ties with Asia, but rather its centuries-old desire to forge a trade in gold with legendarily rich Black societies in the heart of West Africa.

The Algerian War (1954–1962) was one of the last great struggles of decolonization — a brutal conflict that forever changed France and Algeria. Between November 1954 and July 1962, Algeria, then a French territory for over a century, became the scene of a fierce fight for independence. This war was not only a military confrontation, but also a political, ideological, and psychological battle that divided communities, mobilized millions, and drew the attention of the entire world. In The Algerian War: A Clear History for Intermediate and Advanced French Learners, historian Julien Peltier...

The Fifth Republic of France is one of the most dramatic political experiments in modern history—and it’s still unfolding today. Born in 1958 from crisis and fear of collapse, Charles de Gaulle’s “Fifth Republic” has survived student uprisings, terrorist attacks, corruption scandals, populist revolts, and the fury of millions marching in the streets. Against all odds, it has outlived every French regime since the Revolution of 1789. In this gripping, cinematic history, The Fifth Republic: France’s Unfinished Revolution takes readers inside the battles that shaped modern France: ...

Between the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Battle of Waterloo, Europe underwent an extraordinary transformation that saw five of the modern world's great revolutions - scientific, industrial, American, French, and romantic. In this much-admired addition to the monumental Penguin History of Europe series, Tim Blanning brilliantly investigates the forces that transformed Europe from a medieval society into a vigorous powerhouse of the modern world.

Georges Pompidou: The President of Modern France In the shadow of Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou rose from rural obscurity and the discreet boardrooms of Parisian finance to become the man charged with steering France into the modern age. Banker, intellectual, art patron, and reluctant politician, Pompidou’s presidency (1969–1974) was a bridge between the grandeur of Gaullism and the turbulence of the late twentieth century. Julien Peltier takes readers deep into the paradox of Pompidou — the cultivated former teacher who loved Mallarmé as much as motorways, the pragmatic ...

Jacques Chirac: The Survivor of the Republic By Julien Peltier He was the eternal candidate, the man who always came close — until he didn’t just win, but stayed. From the rain-soaked steps of the Élysée in 1995 to his defiant stand against the Iraq War, from the shock of 2002’s face-off with the far right to the long twilight of his presidency, Jacques Chirac’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and quiet charm that outlasted his political power. Julien Peltier’s vivid, non-linear portrait takes the reader inside the private moments and public battles of a man who ...

In this fascinating and exhaustively researched book, the first of its kind in the English language, Tom Williams brings to life French football’s chequered coming of age over the last 40 years. Featuring exclusive interviews with great figures of the French game such as Alain Giresse, Jean-Pierre Papin, Emmanuel Petit and Blaise Matuidi, and with a cast of characters that also includes Michel Platini, Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema, Chris Waddle and Lionel Messi, it's a book no football fan will want to miss.

The rise, the radiance, and the quiet fall of France’s youngest president. In 1974, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing swept into the Élysée Palace as the youngest leader in the history of the Fifth Republic, promising “change within continuity.” With patrician elegance and a reformer’s zeal, he lowered the voting age, legalized abortion, and opened the gilded doors of the presidency to ordinary citizens. He played the accordion on television, launched Europe’s high-speed rail dream, and declared that France’s future would be modern, open, and bold. But politics, like history, has ...

The period from 1933 to 1943 was one of the darkest and most chaotic in human history, as the Second World War unfolded with unthinkable cruelty. It was also a crucial decade in the dramatic, intersecting lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers. There were four women, in particular, whose parallel ideas would come to dominate the twentieth century—at once in necessary dialogue and in striking contrast with one another.

Un classique intemporel du pouvoir et de la stratégie politique — désormais en français moderne, avec toute la structure et le sens de l'œuvre originale préservés. Depuis plus de 500 ans, Le Prince de Niccolò Machiavel est l’un des ouvrages les plus influents et controversés jamais écrits sur le leadership, la politique et la nature humaine. Cette édition complète offre au lecteur d’aujourd’hui les réflexions de Machiavel à travers une modernisation fidèle, ligne par ligne, qui conserve le ton, la structure et le message d’origine.

If you want to discover the captivating history of France, then get this audiobook. It includes three books: History of France, Charlemagne, and Notre-Dame de Paris.

The Yellow Vests: France’s Revolt Against the Elites – How a Grassroots Uprising Warns Us About the Future of Democracy What began as a protest over a fuel tax became one of the most explosive uprisings in modern Europe. Ordinary citizens in fluorescent jackets blocked highways, stormed the Champs-Élysées, and forced French President Emmanuel Macron to his knees. The Yellow Vest Movement wasn’t just about gas prices. It was about dignity, visibility, and a rebellion against a system that left millions behind. And while the world watched Paris burn, few realized that the story ...

François Hollande: The Reluctant Hero By Julien Peltier He was the “normal president” in extraordinary times. François Hollande rose to power promising calm, compromise, and stability. Instead, he found himself tested by terror attacks, economic stagnation, and a nation divided by doubt. From the flicker of unity in the aftermath of tragedy to the crushing weight of disillusion, Julien Peltier paints a vivid portrait of a leader caught between duty and destiny. With rare intimacy and sharp irony, this biography reveals the man behind the hesitant smile: modest yet ambitious, ironic ...

He kills without motive. He vanishes without trace. And he wears a tuxedo to every crime. In 1911, the world met a new kind of villain: Fantômas. Master of disguise. Genius of terror. A phantom whose crimes made Sherlock Holmes look like an amateur—and whose shadow still darkens every masked killer, supervillain, and antihero today. In Fantômas: The Phantom Lord of Crime and the Birth of the Modern Villain, explore how this pulp fiction menace became the template for an entire century of evil. From his origin in French penny dreadfuls to his resurrection by Surrealist poets, from silent...

Découvrez "Histoire de l'art. Tome 4. L'art moderne" d'Élie Faure, lu par Lluís Pujol, un voyage philosophique et poétique au cœur de la création artistique. Dans ce tome final, Faure transcende les époques pour explorer l'essence de l'art comme pulsation vitale de l'humanité. Des idoles nègres aux chefs-d'œuvre de Venise, il révèle les liens profonds entre races, cultures et expressions figurées, analysant le rythme alternant de synthèse et d'analyse qui anime l'Histoire.

The year was 1832, a cholera pandemic raged, and the French royal family was in exile, driven out by yet another revolution. From a drafty Scottish castle, the duchesse de Berry - the mother of the 11-year-old heir to the throne - hatched a plot to restore the Bourbon dynasty. For months, she commanded a guerilla army and evaded capture by disguising herself as a man. But soon she was betrayed by her trusted advisor, Simon Deutz, the son of France's Chief Rabbi.

In How Heretics Dismantled the Medieval Catholic Patriarchal Family Unit to Usher in Modern Secularism explores the profound transformations that reshaped marriage, family, and societal structures from the medieval period to modern secularism. This meticulously researched book delves into how pivotal events such as the Reformation and the French Revolution dismantled the Christian foundations of marriage and family life, paving the way for contemporary secular authority.

In The Secret History of French Cooking, Luke Barr takes readers inside the culinary rebellion that upended the staid French food world and reinvented the role and cultural importance of chefs and restaurants. The very idea of the chef as creator—as innovator, artist, auteur—can be traced back to the legendary Paul Bocuse, Michel Guérard, and the Troisgros brothers, among other colorful characters. The book also tells the largely unknown story of a group of women chefs who fought for recognition in the all-male culinary establishment of the 1970s.