‘Majestic, ambitious<\/b> . . . [Peter Watson] deserves admiration for the grace and agility with which he interlinks the development of a vigorous cultural identity and the seismic shifts of French national history, continually lurching between triumph and disaster’ Literary Review<\/i><\/b>
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We are endlessly fascinated by\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0French. 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\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0country it is today, and what really sets it apart?<\/b><\/p>\n
Journalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answer\u00c2\u00a0these questions in\u00c2\u00a0The<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0French\u00c2\u00a0Mind,\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>a dazzling history of France that takes us from\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0seventeenth century to\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0present day through\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0nation’s most influential thinkers.\u00c2\u00a0He opens\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0doors to\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0Renaissance salons that were a breeding ground for poets, philosophers and scientists, and tells\u00c2\u00a0the forgotten stories of\u00c2\u00a0the extraordinary\u00c2\u00a0succession of women who ran\u00c2\u00a0these institutions, fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else in\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0world.<\/p>\n
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\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a01789\u00c2\u00a0revolution to\u00c2\u00a0the 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.<\/p>\n
This\u00c2\u00a0is a history of breathtaking ambition, propelled by\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0characters Watson brings to vivid life:\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0writers, revolutionaries and painters who loved, inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years. It documents\u00c2\u00a0the\u00c2\u00a0shaping of a nation\u00c2\u00a0whose global influence, in art, culture and politics, cannot be overstated.
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‘An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles, rooted in the Enlightenment and French Revolution, while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity’ The Times<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A sweeping tour of French history from the 17th century to the present day from the highly acclaimed author of The German Genius<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[75],"product_tag":[1562,349,5400],"class_list":{"0":"post-94074","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","5":"product_cat-history","6":"product_tag-european-history","7":"product_tag-social-cultural-history","8":"product_tag-western-philosophy-c-1600-to-c-1900","9":"pa_book_author-watson-peter","10":"pa_cover-hardback","11":"pa_dewey-944-edition23","12":"pa_imprint-simon-schuster-uk-ltd","13":"pa_language-english","14":"pa_pages-11897","15":"pa_publisher-simon-schuster-uk-ltd","16":"pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","18":"first","19":"onbackorder","20":"taxable","21":"shipping-taxable","22":"purchasable","23":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n