Graham Robb

An exploration of France's rural landscapes and inhabitants celebrates the country's ancient tribes, prehistoric networks, and early religions, offering insight into how France was explored, charted, and colonized outside of regions under imperial influence.

A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War

The Discovery of France

Andrew John Kinney

I love this book. It is as much a story of how European civilization transitioned from a Pagan agrarian past to a Christian-secular industrialized present as it is about France, but it is also an excellent book about France. This is the kind of book I love - one in which I learn many, many things that are completely new to me. For example, how Pagan traditions hung on well into the 19th Century in rural France, how much of the country was not mapped completely until the 20th Century (hence the title), and much more. Highly recommended.

The Discovery of France A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War

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