Best of
France

2013

An Officer and a Spy


Robert Harris - 2013
    This is the story of the infamous Dreyfus affair told as a chillingly dark, hard-edged novel of conspiracy and espionage. Paris in 1895. Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish officer, has just been convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment at Devil’s Island, and stripped of his rank in front of a baying crowd of twenty-thousand. Among the witnesses to his humiliation is Georges Picquart, the ambitious, intellectual, recently promoted head of the counterespionage agency that “proved” Dreyfus had passed secrets to the Germans. At first, Picquart firmly believes in Dreyfus’s guilt. But it is not long after Dreyfus is delivered to his desolate prison that Picquart stumbles on information that leads him to suspect that there is still a spy at large in the French military. As evidence of the most malignant deceit mounts and spirals inexorably toward the uppermost levels of government, Picquart is compelled to question not only the case against Dreyfus but also his most deeply held beliefs about his country, and about himself. Bringing to life the scandal that mesmerized the world at the turn of the twentieth century, Robert Harris tells a tale of uncanny timeliness––a witch hunt, secret tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, the fate of a whistle-blower--richly dramatized with the singular storytelling mastery that has marked all of his internationally best-selling novels.

The French for Love


Fiona Valpy - 2013
    So when she inherits her aunt’s ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside – swapping English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine and a fresh start. What she hasn’t factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets that she was never supposed to know.Suddenly feeling a long way from home, Gina will have to rely on new found friends, her own hard work – and Cédric – her charming, mysterious and très handsome new stonemason. But whilst desire needs no translation, love is a different matter. Can Gina overcome the language barrier to make her French dream come true?

The Summer Queen


Elizabeth Chadwick - 2013
    But the real Eleanor remains elusive.This stunning novel introduces an Eleanor that all other writers have missed. Based on the most up-to-date research, it is the first novel to show Eleanor beginning her married life at 13. Overflowing with scandal, passion, triumph and tragedy, Eleanor's legendary story begins when her beloved father dies in the summer of 1137, and she is made to marry the young prince Louis of France. A week after the marriage she becomes a queen and her life will change beyond recognition . . .

The Paris Architect


Charles Belfoure - 2013
    So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn’t really believe in. Ultimately he can’t resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces—behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe—detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.Written by an expert whose knowledge imbues every page, this story becomes more gripping with every life the architect tries to save.

Paris


Edward Rutherfurd - 2013
    As he did so brilliantly in London: The Novel and New York: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd brings to life the most magical city in the world: Paris. This breathtaking multigenerational saga takes readers on a journey through thousands of years of glorious Parisian history.

Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon


Suzanne Desan - 2013
    This era shook the foundations of the old world and marked a permanent shift for politics, religion, and society - not just for France, but for all of Europe. An account of the events alone reads like something out of a thrilling novel: France’s oppressed and hungry masses rise up against their government. In Paris, crowds storm the Bastille looking for bread and weaponry. Rumors, panic, and fear grip the nation as it faces an uncertain future. The National Assembly adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the first bold step toward the invention of democratic politics and a republican state. A young Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte stuns Europe with his military strategy and political boldness.Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon is your opportunity to learn the full story of this captivating period. Taught by Dr. Suzanne M. Desan, these 48 exciting lectures give you a broad and comprehensive survey of one of the most important eras in modern history.Disclaimer: Please note that this recording may include references to supplemental texts or print references that are not essential to the program and not supplied with your purchase.©2013 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2013 The Great Courses

The Promise of Provence


Patricia Sands - 2013
    But instead of receiving an anniversary card from her husband, she finds a note asking for a divorce.Fifty-five and suddenly alone, Katherine begins the daunting task of starting over. She has her friends, her aging mother, and her career to occupy her, but the future seems to hold little promise—until, after a winter of heartbreak, Katherine is persuaded to try a home exchange holiday in the South of France.In Provence, bright fields of flowers bloom below medieval hilltop villages with winding cobblestone streets. Charmed by the picturesque countryside, the breathtaking Côte d’Azur, and the enchantment-filled boulevards of Paris, Katherine feels life opening up once again. Lavender perfumes the air, and chance encounters hint at romance and passion. But memories of heartbreak and betrayal linger—and her former life waits for her back home. Can she find the courage to begin again? Revised edition: This edition of The Promise of Provence includes editorial revisions.

The Perfume Collector


Kathleen Tessaro - 2013
    When she receives an unexpected inheritance from a complete stranger, Madame Eva d’Orsey, Grace is drawn to uncover the identity of her mysterious benefactor.Weaving through the decades, from 1920s New York to Monte Carlo, Paris, and London, the story Grace uncovers is that of an extraordinary women who inspired one of Paris’s greatest perfumers. Immortalized in three evocative perfumes, Eva d’Orsey’s history will transform Grace’s life forever, forcing her to choose between the woman she is expected to be and the person she really is.The Perfume Collector explores the complex and obsessive love between muse and artist, and the tremendous power of memory and scent.

Once Upon a Time in France


Fabien Nury - 2013
    During the second world war he becomes a Nazi collaborator and war profiteer who provides the Nazi regime with the metals it needs, but secretly he uses his wealth and influence to finance the French Resistance and free fellow Jews from Nazi hands. Due to his tactics he was one of the three Jews who were denied Israeli citizenship.

Gardens of Stone: My Boyhood in the French Resistance


Stephen Grady - 2013
    14-year-old Stephen is living with his family. Stephen and his friend Marcel collect souvenirs from strafed convoys and crashed Messerschmitts. Then they are arrested and imprisoned for sabotage and threatened with deportation or the firing squad. Upon his release, and still only 16, Stephen is recruited by the French Resistance. This is his story.

Ruby Red Shoes Goes to Paris


Kate Knapp - 2013
    In the second instalment of Ruby's adventures, Ruby and her grandmother Babushka are off to Paris for a holiday! When they arrive they go and meet Babushka′s brother, Monsieur Gaspar Galushka, who loves hats as much as Ruby loves red shoes. And with Monsieur is his grandson, Felix, who becomes Ruby′s guide while she is in Paris. Together the two young hares zip around Paris on Felix′s racy red scooter taking in all of the beautiful sights that Paris has to offer. It is the adventure of a lifetime, filled with memories that Ruby will treasure forever.

Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte


Kate Williams - 2013
    In this triumphant biography, Kate Williams tells Josephine's searing story, of sexual obsession, politics and surviving as a woman in a man's world.Abandoned in Paris by her aristocratic husband, Josephine's future did not look promising. But while her friends and contemporaries were sent to the guillotine during the Terror that followed the Revolution, she survived prison and emerged as the doyenne of a wildly debauched party scene, surprising everybody when she encouraged the advances of a short, marginalised Corsican soldier, six years her junior.Josephine, the fabulous hostess and skilled diplomat, was the perfect consort to the ambitious but obnoxious Napoleon. With her by his side, he became the greatest man in Europe, the Supreme Emperor; and she amassed a jewellery box with more diamonds than Marie Antoinette's. But as his fame grew, Napoleon became increasingly obsessed with his need for an heir and irritated with Josephine's extravagant spending. The woman who had enchanted France became desperate and jealous. Until, a divorcee aged forty-seven, she was forced to watch from the sidelines as Napoleon and his young bride produced a child.

Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports


Rick Steves - 2013
    As always, he has a plan to help you have a meaningful cultural experience while you're there—even with just a few hours in port.Inside you'll find one-day itineraries for sightseeing at or near the major Northern Europe ports of call, including:Southampton and Dover (London)Le Havre (Paris and Normandy)Zeebrugge (Bruges and Brussels)AmsterdamOsloCopenhagenWarnemünde/Rostock (Berlin)StockholmHelsinkiTallinnSt. PetersburgRick Steves' Northern Europe Cruise Ports explains how to get into town from the cruise terminal, shares sightseeing tips, and includes self-guided walks and tours. You'll learn which destinations are best for an excursion—and which you can confidently visit on your own. You'll also get tips on booking a cruise, plus hints for saving time and money on the ship and in port.You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when cruising through Northern Europe.

Pierre Reverdy


Pierre Reverdy - 2013
    Reverdy’s poetry has exerted a special attraction on American poets, from Kenneth Rexroth to John Ashbery, and this new selection, featuring the work of fourteen distinguished translators, most of it appearing here for the first time, documents that ongoing relationship while offering readers the essential work of an extraordinary writer.Translated from the French by:John Ashbery Dan BellmMary Ann CawsLydia DavisMarilyn HackerRichard HowardGeoffrey O’BrienFrank O’HaraRon PadgettMark PolizzottiKenneth RexrothRichard SieburthPatricia TerryRosanna Warren

The Brethren Trilogy: Brethren, Crusade, Requiem


Robyn Young - 2013
    With a tragedy in his past that looms over his future, he faces a long, hard apprenticeship to the foul-tempered scholar Everard, before he can have any chance of becoming a Knight. As he struggles to survive in the harsh discipline of the Temple, Will must try to make sense of many things: his own past, the dangerous mystery that surrounds Everard, and his confused feelings for Elwen, the strong-willed young woman whose path seems always to cross his own.Meanwhile, a new star is rising in the East. A ruthless fighter and brilliant tactician, the former slave Baybars has become one of the greatest generals and rulers of his time. Haunted by his early life, he is driven by an unquenchable desire to free his people from the European invaders of his homeland.With page-turning suspense and thrilling action, the Brethren trilogy brilliantly evokes that extraordinary clash of civilizations known in the West as the Crusades. Robyn Young portrays a rich cast of characters, reflecting on each side greed, ambition and religious fanaticism, as well as courage, love and faith.

A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand


Philip Short - 2013
    By the time he completed his mandate, he had led the country for 14 years, longer than any other French head of state in modern times. Mitterrand mirrored France in all its imperfections and tragedies, its cowardice and glory, its weakness and its strength.In the wake of the Observatory affair (in which he orchestrated his own assassination attempt), his secretiveness and mistrust grew more pronounced, especially when details of a second family came to light; he was a mixture of "Machiavelli, Don Corleone, Casanova and the Little Prince," said his doctor.During the German occupation, Mitterrand hedged his bets by joining Petain's Vichy government. Later in 1943, under the nom de guerre of Morland (and 30 other aliases), Mitterrand quit Vichy for the Resistance and a paramilitary organization.He changed the ground rules of French social and political debate in ways more far-reaching and fundamental than any other modern leader before him, helping set the agenda for France and Europe for generations to come. Philip Short's A Taste for Intrigue will fill the gap and become the standard against which all other Mitterrand biographies are set.

Stars Upside Down - a memoir of travel, grief, and an incandescent God


Jennie Goutet - 2013
    Though her dream eludes her, she lives boldly—teaching in Asia, studying in Paris, working and traveling for an advertising firm in New York. When God calls her, she answers reluctantly and must first come to grips with crippling loss, depression, and addiction before being restored. Providence takes her by the hand, and her dream comes true as she meets and marries her French husband, works with him in a humanitarian effort in East Africa, and settles down in France to build a family. Told with honesty and strength, Stars Upside Down is a brave, heart-stopping story of love, grief, faith, depression, sunshine piercing the gray clouds—and hope that stays in your heart long after it’s finished.* THIS BOOK WAS FORMERLY PUBLISHED AS 'A LADY IN FRANCE'

Bresson on Bresson: Interviews, 1943-1983


Robert Bresson - 2013
    Bresson on Bresson collects the most significant interviews that Bresson gave (carefully editing them before they were released) over the course of his forty-year career to reveal both the internal consistency and the consistently exploratory character of his body of work. Successive chapters are dedicated to each of his fourteen films, as well as to the question of literary adaptation, the nature of the sound track, and to Bresson’s one book, the great aphoristic treatise Notes on the Cinematograph. Throughout, his close and careful consideration of his own films and of the art of film is punctuated by such telling mantras as “Sound...invented silence in cinema,” “It’s the film that...gives life to the characters—not the characters that give life to the film,” and (echoing the Bible) “Every idle word shall be counted.” Bresson’s integrity and originality earned him the admiration of younger directors from Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette to Olivier Assayas. And though Bresson’s movies are marked everywhere by an air of intense deliberation, these interviews show that they were no less inspired by a near-religious belief in the value of intuition, not only that of the creator but that of the audience, which he claims to deeply respect: “It’s always ready to feel before it understands. And that’s how it should be.”

The Mighty Lalouche


Matthew Olshan - 2013
    He was small, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong. When his job was replaced by an electric car, he turned to boxing to support himself and his pet finch, Genevieve. But--"You? A boxer?" the fighters asked. "I could sneeze and knock you down!" Still, Lalouche refused to give up. And perhaps small Lalouche was just nimble . . . just fast . . . and just strong enough to beat his fierce competitors. This is a marvelous story, full of humor and heart, and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, winner of a New York Times Best Illustrated Award.

Bonaparte: 1769-1802


Patrice Gueniffey - 2013
    This book, hailed as a masterwork on its publication in France, takes up the epic narrative at the heart of this turbulent period: the life of Napoleon himself, the man who—in Madame de Staël’s words—made the rest of “the human race anonymous.” Gueniffey follows Bonaparte from his obscure boyhood in Corsica, to his meteoric rise during the Italian and Egyptian campaigns of the Revolutionary wars, to his proclamation as Consul for Life in 1802. Bonaparte is the story of how Napoleon became Napoleon. A future volume will trace his career as emperor.Most books approach Napoleon from an angle—the Machiavellian politician, the military genius, the life without the times, the times without the life. Gueniffey paints a full, nuanced portrait. We meet both the romantic cadet and the young general burning with ambition—one minute helplessly intoxicated with Josephine, the next minute dominating men twice his age, and always at war with his own family. Gueniffey recreates the violent upheavals and global rivalries that set the stage for Napoleon’s battles and for his crucial role as state builder. His successes ushered in a new age whose legacy is felt around the world today.Averse as we are now to martial glory, Napoleon might seem to be a hero from a bygone time. But as Gueniffey says, his life still speaks to us, the ultimate incarnation of the distinctively modern dream to will our own destiny.

From Here To Paris - Get laid off. Buy a barge in France. Take it to Paris


Cris Hammond - 2013
    Sitting in the sun, sipping a cappuccino, it occurred to me that sometimes your life falls apart just enough to allow you to put it back together in an entirely different way. So I did the most logical thing. I bought a barge in France. Then my wife and I set out to fulfill a lifetime dream of living in the shadow of Notre Dame on the Seine in Paris. From Here to Paris is the story of how we climbed out of our well-worn corporate trench and, together, set to work creating our dream life, alternating between our cozy Victorian art studio in Sausalito California and our 56 foot, 1925 Dutch barge, Phaedra, cruising the canals and rivers of France, inching toward our ultimate goal, the Seine and Paris. This is a story of facing up to the emotional and ego hooks so deeply embedded in the trappings and symbols that define “success.” Of selling the over sized house, shredding the credit cards and abandoning the mind-numbing commute in favor of a joyful struggle toward a fresh life. One lived in jeans and filled with long, leisurely afternoons floating along glass-still canals, through medieval villages and rolling vineyards in the heart of Burgundy. It’s also the story of realtors, moose horns, a mysterious black boat, catastrophic engine failures and how your life can pass before your eyes when you put those tons of iron into reverse and it keeps going forward. It’s about learning the proper gender of things in French, cheating at Trivial Pursuit, cajoling France’s sexiest boat mechanic and why real men don’t do yoga. It’s about realizing that getting to Paris can take years, so you better enjoy the journey.

A Paris Sketchbook: Jason Brooks


Jason Brooks - 2013
    Although he is best known for his beautiful fashion imagery, which has regularly graced the pages of Vogue and Elle magazines, travel has been a recurrent theme in his work and his adventures continue to inspire and inform his visual repertoire.This book is a whimsical take on Paris, part guide book, part illustrated journal, it will appeal to both travelers and fashionistas. Sumptuous production with different stocks and inks will make this a must for anyone who loves fashion illustration and beautiful books.

Anvil of God


J. Boyce Gleason - 2013
    After subduing the pagan religions in the east, halting the march of Islam in the west, and conquering the continent for the Merovingian kings, mayor of the palace Charles the Hammer now wants the throne. Only one thing stands in his way - he's dying.Charles cobbles together a plan to divide the kingdom among his three sons, betroth his daughter to a Lombard prince to secure his southern border, and keep the Church unified behind them through his friend Bishop Boniface. Despite his best efforts, the only thing to reign after Charles's death is chaos. His daughter has no intention of marrying anyone, let alone a Lombard prince. His two eldest sons question the rights of their younger pagan stepbrother, and the Church demands a steep price for their support. Son battles son, Christianity battles paganism, and Charles's daughter flees his court for an enemy's love.Based on a true story, Anvil of God is a whirlwind of love, honor, sacrifice, and betrayal that follows a bereaved family's relentless quest for power and destiny.

Unravelled: Two Wars. Two Affairs. One Marriage.


M.K. Tod - 2013
    Though reluctant to visit the scenes of horror he has spent years trying to forget, Edward succumbs to the unlikely possibility of discovering what happened to Helene Noisette, the woman he once pledged to marry. Travelling through the French countryside with his wife Ann, Edward sees nothing but reminders of war. After a chance encounter with Helene at the dedication ceremony, Edward's past puts his present life in jeopardy.When WWII erupts a few years later, Edward is quickly caught up in the world of training espionage agents, while Ann counsels grieving women and copes with the daily threats facing those she loves. And once again, secrets and war threaten the bonds of marriage.With events unfolding in Canada, France and England, UNRAVELLED is a compelling novel of love, duty and sacrifice set amongst the turmoil of two world wars.

A la Mere de Famille: Recipes from the Beloved Parisian Confectioner


Julien Merceron - 2013
    This, their first cookbook after more than 250 years in business, is as tempting and gorgeous as the shop's bewitching displays. With the edges of the book dyed a brilliant orange and a cover featuring an enchanting candy-shop window and richly embossed lettering, this is one of the most beautiful cookbooks you've ever seen. Inside, each of the 95 recipes for classic confections has been lovingly photographed. For the home candymaker always looking for new and better formulas—and for bakers of all skill levels—this is a complete collection of recipes for À la Mère de Famille favorites, from cakes to marshmallows to ice creams and more.

Eleven Days in August: The Liberation of Paris in 1944


Matthew Cobb - 2013
    But I had reckoned without the liberation of Paris - I had reckoned without remembering that I might be a part of that richly historic day. We were in Paris on the first day - one of the great days of all time.' (Ernie Pyle, US war correspondent)The liberation of Paris was a momentous point in twentieth-century history, yet it is now largely forgotten outside France. Eleven Days in August is a pulsating hour-by-hour reconstruction of these tumultuous events that shaped the final phase of the war and the future of France, told with the pace of a thriller. While examining the conflicting national and international interests that played out in the bloody street fighting, it tells of how, in eleven dramatic days, people lived, fought and died in the most beautiful city in the world.Based largely on unpublished archive material, including secret conversations, coded messages, diaries and eyewitness accounts, Eleven Days in August shows how these August days were experienced in very different ways by ordinary Parisians, Resistance fighters, French collaborators, rank-and-file German soldiers, Allied and French spies, the Allied and German High Commands.Above all, it shows that while the liberation of Paris may be attributed to the audacity of the Resistance, the weakness of the Germans and the strength of the Allies, the key to it all was the Parisians who by turn built street barricades and sunbathed on the banks of the Seine, who fought the Germans and simply tried to survive until the Germans finally surrendered, in a billiard room at the Prefecture of Police. One of the most iconic moments in the history of the twentieth century had come to a close, and the face of Paris would never be the same again.

Claude Monet's Gardens at Giverny


Dominique Lobstein - 2013
    Monet discovered a profound source of artistic renewal in these gardens, a motif that appears in hundreds of his works. In Claude Monet’s Gardens at Giverny, Dominique Lobstein’s dynamic text introduces us to the many personalities that have strolled through these gardens and the role this setting played in Monet’s life, while Jean-Pierre Gilson’s lush four-season photographs offer a tour through the literally thousands of flowers—daffodils, irises, poppies, tulips, and more— winding pathways, arching trellises, cherry trees heavily laden with blossoms, and, of course, the iconic water garden. This book brings to life critical moments in Monet’s biography, presenting a vivid glimpse into the beloved artist’s personal experiences and creative universe.

Provence and the Cote d'Azur: Discover the Spirit of the South of France


Janelle McCulloch - 2013
    From the author of Paris, this gorgeous lifestyle guide steers readers away from crowded tourist destinations to reveal hidden gems at every turn: overflowing markets, chic ateliers, quaint cafés, cobblestone streets, sweeping vistas, and exceptional galleries. The accessible writing provides history and context for each stop on the adventure, and the vibrant, color-soaked photographs capture the spirit of this popular place. Packaged as a flexi-bound paperback with a ribbon page marker, Provence and the Côte d'Azur is a must-have for lovers of style, food, travel, design, and, bien sûr, France!

French Decadent Tales


Stephen RomerGustave Geffroy - 2013
    The years 1880-1900 saw an extraordinary, hothouse flowering of talent, that produced some of the most exotic, stylized, and cerebral literature in the French language. While 'Decadence' was a European movement, its epicentre was the French capital. On the eve of Freud's early discoveries, writers such as Gourmont, Lorrain, Maupassant, Mirbeau, Richepin, Schwob, and Villiers engaged in a species of wild analysis of their own, perfecting the art of short fiction as they did so. Death and Eros haunt these pages, and a polymorphous perversity by turns hilarious and horrifying. Their stories teem with addicts, maniacs, and murderers as they strive to outdo each other. This newly translated selection brings together the very best writing of the period, from lesser known figures as well as famous names. Provocative and unsettling, these extraordinary, corrosive little tales continue to cast a cold eye on the modern world.CONTENTSJULES BARBEY D'AUREVILLYDon Juan's Crowning Love AffairLÉON BLOYA Dentist Terribly PunishedThe Last BakeThe Lucky SixpenceGUSTAVE GEFFROYThe StatueRÉMY DE GOURMONTDanaetteDon Juan's SecretThe FaunOn the ThresholdJULES LAFORGUEPerseus and AndromedaJEAN LORRAINAn Unidentified CrimeThe Man with the BraceletThe Student's TaleThe Man Who Loved ConsumptivesPIERRE LOUYSA Case without PrecedentGUY DE MAUPASSANTAt the Death-BedThe NightA WalkThe TressesCATULLE MENDÈSWhat the Shadow DemandsOCTAVE MIRBEAUThe BathThe First EmotionThe Little Summer-HouseOn a CureJEAN RICHEPINConstant GuignardDeshoulièresPft! Pft!GEORGES RODENBACHThe TimeMARCEL SCHWOBThe BrothelThe Sans-Gueule52 and 53 OrfilaLucretius, PoetPaolo Uccello, PainterVILLIERS DE L'ISLE ADAMSentimentalismThe PresentimentThe Desire to be a Man

Trapped in Stone


Linda Thomas-Sundstrom - 2013
    The woman who loves him has vowed to change his fate.

Bébé Day by Day: 100 Keys to French Parenting


Pamela Druckerman - 2013
    She set out to learn how the French achieve all this, while telling the story of her own young family in Paris. BEBE DAY BY DAY distills the lessons of BRINGING UP BEBE into an easy-to-read guide for parents and caregivers. How do you teach your child patience? How do you get him to like broccoli? How do you encourage your baby to sleep through the night? How can you have a child and still have a life? Alongside these time-tested lessons of French parenting are favorite recipes straight from the menus of the Parisian creche and winsome drawings by acclaimed French illustrator Margaux Motin. Witty, pithy and brimming with common sense, BEBE DAY BY DAY offers a mix of practical tips and guiding principles, to help parents find their own way. .

The Complete Memoirs of Casanova the Story of My Life (All Volumes in a Single Book, Illustrated, Complete and Unabridged)


Giacomo Casanova - 2013
    His life was more colourful than the most far-fetched tale and he was a lover and seducer as well as loved and seduced himself. His memoires run to several volumes of gripping narrative, being considered to be the most authentic source of the European social customs of the Eighteenth Century. Enjoy this edition of his memoires, complete and unabridged in a single volume.

The Executioner's Heir: A Novel of Eighteenth-Century France


Susanne Alleyn - 2013
    He also has an infamous family name—and he’s trapped in a hideous job that no one wants.The last thing Charles ever wanted to be was a hangman. But he’s the eldest son of Paris’s most dreaded public official, and in the 1750s, after centuries of superstition, people like him are outcasts. He knows that the executioner’s son must become an executioner himself or starve, for all doors are closed to him; although he loathes the role and would much rather study medicine, society’s fears and prejudices will never let him be anything else. And when disaster strikes, family duty demands that Charles take his father’s place much sooner than he had ever imagined.Miles outside Paris, high-spirited François de La Barre is the carefree teenager who Charles would like to have been, instead of the somber public servant, bound by the Sansons’ motto of duty and honor, who carries out brutal justice in the king’s name. François proves, though, in the elegant, treacherous world of prerevolutionary France, to have a dangerous gift for making enemies . . . and when at last their paths converge, in this true story of destiny and conflicting loyalties, Charles must make a horrifying choice."Alleyn’s exhaustive research pays off handsomely in well-drawn characters and colorful historical context. ... A well-researched, robust tale featuring an endearing executioner." (Kirkus Reviews)"Charles’s personal crisis and clashing loyalties evoke Greek tragedy, and speak to the issues that will resonate with readers." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

The Great War: A Photographic Narrative


The Imperial War Museum - 2013
    In The Great War: A Photographic Narrative, we follow the events of the war through extraordinary photographs, from the opening photograph of the gun that fired the first shot of the war to the final photograph of an audio recording showing the arrival of silence on 11th November 1918. Imperial War Museum houses one of the greatest photographic archives of conflict in the world. This unique book is divided into five sections, each prefaced with a detailed chronology of events and a historical summary, together with detailed captions for every picture.NOTE: Few pages are intentionally left blank.‘I have never seen or read anything that brings the First World War quite so vividly alive.’ Guardian

Rick Steves Best of France


Rick Steves - 2013
    Pocket guides include fold-out city maps.

French Lessons, The Art of Living and Loving Well!


E.J. Gore - 2013
    Gabrielle, the French Godmother we all wish we had, gives Suzanne lessons in style and self-esteem, poise and sensuality, and in the process teaches us as well. Charming!" ? Sam Horn, author of Tongue Fu and Pop! When Susan Purcell encounters Gabrielle LaCroix on a visit to Paris, she?s by struck Gabrielle?s confidence, pleasure in her life, but most of all ? by her happiness with herself. In the four months that follow, Susan becomes Suzanne transforming herself and her life, amid the splendor and charm of Paris. French Lessons is for any woman who has ever wished to change her life, follow her dreams... or visit The City of Light! "I think of Gabrielle every time I am about to lose my cool, and I believe every woman should have access to her fabulousness! Just when you are most in need of grace, wit and aplomb, Gabrielle will be there for you. Her lessons come in the form of stories, and will inspire you to be your most divine and beautiful self?inside and out." ? Jill Dearman, author of Bang the Keys

Marie-Antoinette's Versailles


Cecile Berly - 2013
    She invented an art of living that was both intimate and sumptuous by using the talents of the greatest artists of her time.From the Grand Apartments to the inner rooms of the Palace, from the Petit Trianon to the Hamlet, the historian Cécile Berly takes us through the life of Marie-Antoinette and tells us about the places and events that featured the last queen of France in Versailles.

Laduree: Decoration and Inspiration


Serge Gleizes - 2013
    What makes it so? What are their inspirations? How can we reproduce this style in rooms or parts of our homes? Three decorative styles combine to make up Laduree style: 18th century, Second Empire and Madeline Castaing reinterpreted by Laduree. Today Laduree is more than just a tea shop and macaroons. It is a desirable environment that unites customers from all over the world. It is created from historical inspiration and feminine styles that inspired the decorative arts of their times: Madame de Pompadour in the 18th century, Empress Eugenia in the Second Empire and Madeleine Castaing at the beginning of the 20th century. This book presents how Laduree adapted these styles to create their own environment: furniture, materials, textiles, wallpaper, jewelry, beauty accessories etc. This beautifully crafted 3-sided pop-up presented in a ribbon-tied envelope shows a perfect representation of Laduree style.

Jane and Serge. A Family Album


Andrew Birkin - 2013
    They would spend the next 12 years together, a passionate union that produced the controversial duet "Je t’aime... moi non plus" (whose explicit lyrics and orgasmic moans caused so much fuss that the Vatican declared it offensive) and, in 1971, the legendary album Melody Nelson as well as a daughter, Charlotte, who has become a successful actress in her own right. From the earliest days of Jane and Serge's romance until their split in 1980, Jane’s brother Andrew Birkin was a frequent presence in their lives; an avid photographer, he snapped thousands of candid family photos during those years. Birkin’s pictures—very few of which have ever been published—offer a rare view of daily life for the couple, bringing us back to a place and time we have long idolized. Though more than 30 years have passed since the two parted ways, and over two decades since Serge parted from this world, the passion for Jane and Serge has endured. This treasure trove is sure to fan the flames of its undying embers.Designed by M/M (Paris), the photo album comes in a clear plastic cover with the following goodies tucked inside: Text booklet featuring an introduction by Jane Birkin and Andrew Birkin’s memoir of Jane and Serge, illustrated by Birkin family childhood photos Softcover contact sheet booklet Fold-out poster 5 photo prints Sticker sheet Embroidered patch

Meeting Cezanne


Michael Morpurgo - 2013
    He has rarely been out of Paris, and if the paintings in his mother’s beloved Cézanne book are to be believed, surely Provence is paradise itself. So begins an idyllic month for the young city boy: roaming the gentle hills and rolling valleys and daydreaming about his beautiful cousin Amandine; helping at his aunt and uncle’s bustling village inn; feeling that he has come to the most wonderful place in the world. But one evening the spell is broken when an important local comes for dinner and Yannick accidentally destroys a precious drawing the man leaves behind. How can the devastated Yannick make things right again — and what surprising discoveries might come of it?

Trysting


Emmanuelle Pagano - 2013
    It has nothing performative, only secretive. […] It is all of an incredible sensitivity/finesse.’ Olivia de Lamberterie, Elle ‘It is an album of destinies. They each have their décor. They talk of first frosts, of the wood that must be entered, of the huge rubbish tips of life, of the disorder of houses. Of beds that are no longer made because they are too often occupied. Of the warmth of being at home and of finding oneself. This essential truth of what we are. Emmanuelle Pagano sends every reader back to familiar territory. Her book is full of discreet and recognisable emotion.’ Xavier Houssin, Le Monde ‘Under her pen which is an eye, Pagano exalts the wastage of time, its grand affair. Time and its ‘arbitrary wing’ as Lord Byron said. In this little game of references, it’s the sharp eye of Duras, that of La Vie materielle, that must be evoked, or of Violette Leduc and the essential fantasy of Emily Dickinson. Emmanuelle Pagano: remember her name!’ Thierry Clermont, Le Figaro ‘Prosaic but never vulgar, Emmannuelle Pagano dissects lovers’ promiscuity, interrogates the cartography of our emotional lives.’ Clémentine Goldszal, Les Inrockuptibles ‘Seizing reality at that troubling junction between the quotidian and the extraordinary, the banal and the poetic, this literary package/machine with no equivalent unknots the internal ‘ball of string’ where hides the points of departure or arrival, of love in a life or a night, of a daily rhythm or a sudden surprise.’ Alexandre Gefen, Le magazine littéraire

The Mona Lisa Speaks


Christopher Angel - 2013
    But, when he discovers that she’s deeply in debt to Jacques Renard, a powerful & dangerous lord of the French criminal underground, he has to embark on the risky & thrilling theft of the Mona Lisa to save her – & their unborn child. Rob’s biggest problems actually begin after he successfully steals the Mona Lisa & replaces her with a perfect copy. Facing betrayals at all turns, he needs every bit of his intelligence, cunning, courage, & computer skills to stay alive & reunite with his true love. This is a story of thrills, danger, & a Canadian from the frozen North falling in love with Paris.

La Mere Brazier: The Mother of Modern French Cooking


Eugenie Brazier - 2013
    La Mère Brazier became the most famous restaurant in France—a magical gastronomic experience that drew such stars as Marlene Dietrich as well as French presidents. Its proprietor and chef, Eugénie Brazier, was the first woman awarded six Michelin stars. She became—and still is today—the inspiration and mentor for modern French cooking, and leading chefs including Paul Bocuse have trained with her. Written in her words and first published in 1977, La Mère Brazier is a culinary masterpiece. Part memoir and part recipe collection, it is translated into English here for the first time. This is a master class in how to cook, with over 300 recipes—from Bresse chicken in mourning (with truffles) to lobster Aurora as well as simple classics like artichokes with foie gras—that anyone can easily follow at home. While most classic French recipes are complicated and time-consuming, Brazier’s cooking is more practical and user-friendly. This book features anecdotal culinary wisdom and charming trivia (Bocuse had to iron tablecloths and wash dishes before moving up to prepping). Filling an important gap in culinary history, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in classic recipes and French regional cuisine.

Chatting with Henri Matisse: The Lost 1941 Interview


Henri Matisse - 2013
    It was an extensive interview, seen at the time as a vital assessment of Matisse’s career and set to be published by Albert Skira’s then newly established Swiss press. After months of complicated discussions between Courthion and Matisse, and just weeks before the book was to come out—the artist even had approved the cover design—Matisse suddenly refused its publication. A typescript of the interview now resides in Courthion’s papers at the Getty Research Institute.This rich conversation, conducted during the Nazi occupation of France, is published for the first time in this volume, where it appears both in English translation and in the original French version. Matisse unravels memories of his youth and his life as a bohemian student in Gustave Moreau’s atelier. He recounts his experience with collectors, including Albert C. Barnes. He discusses fame, writers, musicians, politicians, and, most fascinatingly, his travels. Chatting with Henri Matisse, introduced by Serge Guilbaut, contains a preface by Claude Duthuit, Matisse’s grandson, and essays by Yve-Alain Bois and Laurence Bertrand Dorléac. The book includes unpublished correspondence and other original documents related to Courthion’s interview and abounds with details about avant-garde life, tactics, and artistic creativity in the first half of the twentieth century.

The French Resistance


Olivier Wieviorka - 2013
    Who would keep the flame burning through dark years of occupation? At what cost?Olivier Wieviorka presents a comprehensive history of the French Resistance, synthesizing its social, political, and military aspects to offer fresh insights into its operation. Detailing the Resistance from the inside out, he reveals not one organization but many interlocking groups often at odds over goals, methods, and leadership. He debunks lingering myths, including the idea that the Resistance sprang up in response to the exhortations of de Gaulle's Free French government-in-exile. The Resistance was homegrown, arising from the soil of French civil society. Resisters had to improvise in the fight against the Nazis and the collaborationist Vichy regime. They had no blueprint to follow, but resisters from all walks of life and across the political spectrum formed networks, organizing activities from printing newspapers to rescuing downed airmen to sabotage. Although the Resistance was never strong enough to fight the Germans openly, it provided the Allies invaluable intelligence, sowed havoc behind enemy lines on D-Day, and played a key role in Paris's liberation.Wieviorka shatters the conventional image of a united resistance with no interest in political power. But setting the record straight does not tarnish the legacy of its fighters, who braved Nazism without blinking.

Agnes Sorel Mistress of Beauty


Noreen Nash - 2013
    Theextraordinary face startled him. He had never seen such perfection. He couldnot believe that she was real, she must be an apparition, a figment of hisimagination, born out of his starved existence, but she was real and he knew inthat moment that she must be his.So intense would be his love for her that he showered her with jewels,gave her castles and chateaux, and then he made her official mistress, the firstofficial Mistress of France, equal to his wife the Queen. But with it came a price,jealousy -- "Jealousy which is as cruel as the grave."This is a story of love, desire, envy, and jealousy, those qualities of thehuman heart which are timeless and universal.

Personal Retributions (The Michael Prentiss Stories)


Andrew French - 2013
    Suspended and accused of murder, he embarks on a journey where the stakes are higher than he could have possibly imagined. Michael Prentiss has to go back into the dark world of espionage, treachery and double-cross to help Mabbitt prevent the assassination of a world leader.

Numero


Marion Bataille - 2013
    This creative twist on the classic counting book reveals how the most basic shapes—just a single line and a circle—become the building blocks for every number. We begin with the two simplest digits: 0 and 1. With each turn of a page, the same shapes slide into place to form 2, then 3, all the way up to 10. A tour de force of creative engineering, Numero is a treat for the whole family: children will delight in the magical transformations, while art lovers will cherish the simple brilliance of the book's design.

Home Again in Paris: Oscar, Leo and Me


Matthew Fraser - 2013
    He first moved to Paris as a fresh-faced graduate student in his twenties. Now in his forties, after many years working as a newspaper columnist and TV presenter, he returns to Paris to rebuild his life following the death of his wife. This time he’s accompanied by two bichons, Oscar and Leo – and has no idea what lies ahead.Home Again in Paris is both an inspirational personal journey combining observation, anecdote, and colourful characters in a rich narrative that takes the reader on an eye-opening adventure into the France of myth and reality. Above all, it’s a book about faith, hope, and the meaning of home.

Marie Antoinette's Head: The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen, and the Revolution


Will Bashor - 2013
    For the better part of the queen’s reign, one man was entrusted with the sole responsibility of ensuring that her coiffure was at its most ostentatious best. Who was this minister of fashion who wielded such tremendous influence over the queen’s affairs? Marie Antoinette’s Head: The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen, and the Revolution charts the rise of Léonard Autie from humble origins as a country barber in the south of France to the inventor of the Pouf and premier hairdresser to Queen Marie-Antoinette.By unearthing a variety of sources from the 18th and 19th centuries, including memoirs (including Léonard’s own), court documents, and archived periodicals the author, French History professor and expert Will Bashor, tells Autie’s mostly unknown story. Bashor chronicles Léonard’s story, the role he played in the life of his most famous client, and the chaotic and history-making world in which he rose to prominence. Besides his proximity to the queen, Leonard also had a most fascinating life filled with sex (he was the only man in a female-dominated court), seduction, intrigue, espionage, theft, exile, treason, and possibly, execution. The French press reported that Léonard was convicted of treason and executed in Paris in 1793. However, it was also recorded that Léonard, after receiving a pension from the new King Louis XVIII, died in Paris in March 1820. Granted, Léonard was known as the magician of Marie-Antoinette’s court, but how was it possible that he managed to die twice?

Hubert Keller's Christmas in Alsace


Hubert Keller - 2013
    Well-known chef, Hubert Keller, shares his family Christmas traditions and 20 of his favorite recipes from his boyhood home of Alsace, France.

Theory of Remainders


Scott Dominic Carpenter - 2013
    When a funeral draws him back to his ex-wife's homeland of France, the trip reunites him with a trauma he has struggled to forget: the brutal death of his teenage daughter fifteen years earlier. Prodded by his former brother-in-law and stirred by the unspent embers of his marriage, he embarks on a mission to resolve lingering questions about this past, hoping to heal himself along the way. The search leads to a disturbed man who may hold more answers than anyone expects-if only Philip can hear what he's trying to say. A suspenseful literary novel set in the lush backgrounds of Normandy, Theory of Remainders explores the secret ties between love, trauma, and language.

A Slender Tether


Jess Wells - 2013
    Christine de Pizan, daughter of a disgraced court physician and astrologer, grapples with her ambition to be the first woman writer of France. A doctor finds an unusual way to cope with the death of his wife. And opportunity alternates with disasters in the lives of four commoners, yoked by necessity: a paper-maker struggling to keep his business, a falconer with a mysterious past, a merchant's daughter frantic to avoid an arranged marriage, and a down-on-his-luck musician with a broken guitar and the voice of an angel.

Christmas in France


Jack Manning - 2013
    Explores the many French traditions that bring people of this country together at Christmas.

The Rhythm of Thought: Art, Literature, and Music after Merleau-Ponty


Jessica Wiskus - 2013
    Holding the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé, the paintings of Paul Cézanne, the prose of Marcel Proust, and the music of Claude Debussy under Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological light, she offers innovative interpretations of some of these artists’ masterworks, in turn articulating a new perspective on Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy. More than merely recovering Merleau-Ponty’s thought, Wiskus thinks according to it. First examining these artists in relation to noncoincidence—as silence in poetry, depth in painting, memory in literature, and rhythm in music—she moves through an array of their artworks toward some of Merleau-Ponty’s most exciting themes: our bodily relationship to the world and the dynamic process of expression. She closes with an examination of synesthesia as an intertwining of internal and external realms and a call, finally, for philosophical inquiry as a mode of artistic expression. Structured like a piece of music itself, The Rhythm of Thought offers new contexts in which to approach art, philosophy, and the resonance between them.

Daumier: The Heroism of Modern Life


John Berger - 2013
    This authoritative new study provides a long-overdue assessment of his work, bringing together his paintings, sculptures, watercolors, drawings, and lithographs, all of which were greatly admired in his day. Later fêted by Van Gogh and Picasso, Daumier’s art continues to be appreciated by contemporary artists.Lavishly illustrated with works from throughout Daumier’s career, including the satirical lithographs that made his name, the book focuses on the innovative paintings and drawings that formed his more private output. These lesser-known works reveal the artist’s ambitious range of subject matter and confirm Daumier’s unique place in art history.

The Ways of Mud and Bone


Carrie Ann Lahain - 2013
    The tragedy causes a rift in the community between those for the war and those against it. As local tensions rise, Meryl begins her service with an overseas relief unit. Caught up in her own brutal day-to-day struggle in war-weary France, she is unaware of how far matters have deteriorated at home. The truth leaves her broken and grieving. Is the world she once knew gone forever? Or can the friendships she’s made help Meryl find the strength to begin again?A bit like LITTLE WOMEN meets ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE WAYS OF MUD AND BONE is a uniquely American book about the war to end all wars.

A Fallen Fortune


Jackie Williams - 2013
    The last thing she needs is an arrogant, but incredibly handsome neighbour upsetting her days. Desperate to escape from the endless worry of an arranged marriage and hoping for nothing more than a friendly chat to someone who doesn't fawn over his title and money, Leo goes to welcome a new neighbour. The perfect view of Elspeth’s deliciously shapely rear, as she taps tiles into place on the ancient mill roof, is the last thing he expects to see. A short romance to idle the few weeks before his impending doom is one thing, but falling madly and hopelessly in love hadn't been on his agenda. Having it whack him right between the eyes is an unexpected bolt out of the blue. His life will never be the same again. Can Leo save his sanity, his inheritance and his fabulous Château in France while keeping his identity secret from the lovely woman he wants? And after discovering his deceit, can Elspeth live without the love of the charming French gardener who has stolen far more than her heart and soul? This book is suitable for New Adult upwards due to adult content.

Toulouse- Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: PARIS 1880-1910


Phillip Dennis Cate - 2013
    Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne is a celebration of the work of a generation of avant-garde artists at the turn of the nineteenth century in Paris who fought for artistic liberation against the strict codes of the Academy. Like the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists who preceded them, the Nabis, Incohérents, Symbolists, and Naturalists sought to reinterpret a rapidly changing society that was no longer easily definable. Artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, Mary Cassatt, and Félix Vallotton, among others, render with naturalism and vivacity modern Parisian life and its café-concerts, cabarets, and brothels; street scenes and landscapes; and intimate domestic interiors. This rich presentation of paintings, watercolors, drawings, rare zinc shadow-puppet silhouettes, Chat Noir cabaret programs, and key ephemera for Parisian theaters, circuses, cabarets, and café-concerts, are accompanied by essays by internationally known scholars, catalogue entries, artist biographies, a timeline of historical events and iconic works, a map of Paris, and a select bibliography.

KeeKee's Big Adventures in Paris, France


Shannon Jones - 2013
    Her first stop? Ooh là là! It's Paris, France! Join KeeKee as she explores the sights, sounds, and-yum yum!-tastes of this beautiful and historic city. Young readers will share KeeKee's delight as she makes new friends, discovers exciting places, and immerses herself in the fascinating French culture. And, they'll have fun with the kid-friendly pronunciation guide and glossary in the back of the book, along with a unique and charmingly illustrated map of Paris. KeeKee's Big Adventures will spark curiosity and inspire appreciation for our great big wonderful world!

The Emperor's American


Art McGrath - 2013
    In early 1804, stranded on a French shore in the midst of Napoleon's Army as it prepares to invade England, Burns is given his chance when Marshal Michel Ney offers him a commission. Now in the uniform of a French officer but still an outsider, Burns stands ready to battle his way to London, but it remains to be seen who his real enemies are-the English, his fellow soldiers who resent his presence, or even his American countrymen.

The Little Book of Paris


Dominique Foufelle - 2013
    Why was the Place de la Nation formerly called la Place du Trône? Has the Panthéon always been the resting place of great men? Who exactly decided where the Hôtel de Ville should stand? What saved the Eiffel Tower from destruction? Whose idea was it to turn the Tuileries into the capital's first public garden? What is the difference between the Assemblée Nationale and the Palais Bourbon? Complete with period engravings, this small album tells the history of Paris through its twenty arrondissements and its main monuments.

The French Kitchen: Recipes from the Master of French Cooking


Michel Roux - 2013
    

France


Liz Sonneborn - 2013
    Describes the history, geography, population, wildlife, climate, economy, religion, and culture of France.

Le Livre Blanc


Anne-Sophie Pic - 2013
    Anne-Sophie Pic has taken the long-established culinary traditions of her family and her country, and re-imagined them through a contemporary and exhilarating approach to texture, form and flavor.The book includes 50 recipes that, like those of another culinary inventor, Heston Blumenthal, both inspire and amaze. From foams and emulsions, to working with sous-vide and siphons, the recipes transform the everyday, and the not-so-everyday, into the extraordinary.Throughout the book Pic delivers insights into her creative process, including the interplay of imagination and memory in creating dishes, and the associations between flavours and textures that make her cooking unique.

The Queens Regnant of Navarre: Succession, Politics, and Partnership, 1274-1512


Elena Woodacre - 2013
    However, the lives and careers of these women are largely unknown beyond the region and have never been investigated as a group or in the context of female rule. This survey of Navarre's queens finally fills this scholarly lacuna by focusing on issues of female succession, matrimonial politics, agency, patronage, and the power-sharing dynamic between the queens and their male consorts. It also highlights the importance of Navarre to major political events of the era and traces these queens' connections to other female European rulers, including Isabel of Castile and Giovanna II of Naples.

The Garden of Eros: The Story of the Paris Expatriates and the Post-War Literary Scene


John Calder - 2013
    Drawing from the accounts of two fellow publishers—Maurice Girodias and Barney Rosset, who were also active in the heady days of 1950s and 1960s Paris, London, and New York—and from his own personal recollections, John Calder talks about the challenges of being a publisher in that era of censorship and political persecution and the problems faced by such writers as Beckett, Burroughs, Trocchi, and Miller to have their work accepted and recognized. Told in John Calder's trademark raconteur style and peppered with salacious, revealing, and entertaining anecdotes, this book will appeal both to the general reader and anyone who is interested in the social and cultural history of the 20th century.

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris


Sarah Kennel - 2013
    Accompanying a major retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Art to honor Marville’s bicentennial, Charles Marville: Photographer of Nineteenth-Century Paris offers a survey of the artist’s entire career. This beautiful book, which begins with the city scenes and architectural studies Marville made throughout France and Germany in the 1850s, and also explores his landscapes and portraits, as well as his photographs of Paris both before and after many of its medieval streets were razed to make way for the broad boulevards, parks, and monumental buildings we have come to associate with the City of Light. Commissioned to record the city in transition, Marville became known as the official photographer of Paris.Marville has long been an enigma in the history of photography, in part because many of the documents about his life were thought to have been lost in a fire that destroyed Paris’s city hall in 1871. Based on meticulous research, this volume offers many new insights into Marville’s personal and professional biography, including the central fact that Marville was not his given name. Born Charles-François Bossu in 1813, the photographer adopted the pseudonym when he began his career as an illustrator in the 1830s. With five essays by respected scholars, this book offers the first comprehensive examination of Marville’s life and career and delivers the much-awaited public recognition his work so richly deserves.

Jean Patou: A Fashionable Life


Emmanuelle Polle - 2013
    During the 1920s and 1930s, the French couturier Jean Patou was Chanel’s main rival: day pajamas, jersey sportswear, swimwear, and the little black dress were all among the innovative designs marking Patou’s remarkable, albeit brief, career as the king of Parisian fashion. With his untimely death at 49, he had only fifteen years to make his mark on the history of couture, yet in that short time he amassed a colossal fortune, opened shops and studios in Paris, Deauville, Biarritz, and New York, and invented some of the world’s legendary fragrances, including Joy and Que Sais-Je. This book recounts the story of Patou’s charmed life and career during the most glamorous years of the twentieth century. For the first time, the heirs of the Patou family have agreed to share their extensive private archives, and author Emmanuelle Polle spent more than two years reviewing thousands of unpublished documents: photographs, diaries, client lists, and original, hand-colored sketches. Signed by major names in fashion photography (Baron de Meyer, Laure Albin Guillot, or the Seeberger brothers), the vintage photographs—presented alongside fashion designs, original fabric swatches, art deco furniture, perfume bottles, and garments photographed especially for this volume—retrace the universe of this extraordinary aesthete and speak of a certain minimalism. This book is an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of fashion and of the greatest years of Parisian style.

Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines of Haut-Brion, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Mouton Rothschild


Jane Anson - 2013
    Wine educator and journalist Jane Anson presents the fascinating story of what it means to be a first-growth wine, what makes these wines so extraordinary, and what that means to the legions of merchants, dealers, and wine lovers who hold them in such high esteem. For the first time, this book brings the estate’s separate stories together into one sweeping saga, filled with revealing anecdotes and lively historical detail. With a foreword by Academy Award–winning director and winery owner Francis Ford Coppola and stunning new photographs, this book makes it clear why these five wines are considered among the very best in the world. Praise for Bordeaux Legends: “The book is full of the romance of these iconic chateaus, but it also offers interesting details about the business of running their global empires. Ultimately, Anson’s book is a look at the complexities of producing the wines that many consider to be among the world’s best.”  —The San Jose Mercury News online

Noor Inayat Khan


Gaby Halberstam - 2013
    During WWII she joined the Special Operations Executive and was sent to Nazi-occipied France as a wireless operator, transmitting vital secret messages. When her network was broken and her colleagues captured by the Nazis, she refused to abandon what had become the most important and dangerous post in France, as the last link between London and Paris. She was executed in Dachau in 1944 after being betrayed to the Nazis, and was posthumously awarded the George Cross and Croix de Guerre. The astonishing story of a true British hero.

Waterloo Battlefield Guide


David Buttery - 2013
    This was the climax of the Napoleonic Wars, and the outcome had a major influence on the shape of Europe for the next century and beyond. The battle was a milestone, and it cannot be properly understood without a detailed, on-the-ground study of the landscape in which it was fought - and that is the purpose of David Buttery's new battlefield guide.In vivid detail, using eyewitness accounts and an intimate knowledge of the terrain, he reconstructs Waterloo and he takes the reader - and the visitor - across the battleground as it is today. He focuses on the pivotal episodes in the fighting - the day-long struggle for the chateau at Hougoumont, the massive French infantry assaults, repeated cavalry charges, the fall of La Haye Sainte, the violent clashes in the village of Plancenoit, the repulse of the Imperial Guard and rout of the French army.This thoroughgoing, lucid, easy-to-follow guide will be a fascinating introduction for anyone who seeks to understand what happened on that momentous day, and it will be an essential companion for anyone who explores the battlefield in Belgium.

Tales from the Hilltop: A Summer in the other South of France


Tony Lewis - 2013
    Pedalling along curvaceous country lanes or freewheeling through valleys and vineyards – earning your supper in this sleepy corner of France is nothing short of a privilege.Tony and Ludmilla have landed a job with a specialist cycling and walking holiday company in the South of France … but that’s not something we can hold against them for too long!They head off to the mediaeval marvel of Cordes-sur-Ciel in the Tarn – a region so achingly beautiful and laden with history and mystery they have to pinch themselves to be sure such a place really does exist.When their cyclists turn up for a week’s pedal-powered adventure they will need a reliable back-up service when they puncture a tyre or come face to jowl with a ‘devil dog’ intent on devouring their panniers. And when their walkers take the wrong trail and find themselves humming Bonnie Tyler’s ’70s hit ‘Lost in France’, they too will need a timely rescue. Well, that’s the theory …

Westphalia: The Last Christian Peace


Derek Croxton - 2013
    It was a signal event of the early modern era, thoroughly of its time even as it prefigured the radical political developments of subsequent centuries. This sweeping, exhaustively researched history is the first comprehensive account of the treaty and its wider significance to appear in the English language. Bringing together the latest scholarship with an engaging narrative, it retraces the European situation leading up to the Congress of Westphalia, exploring its political and intellectual underpinnings and placing it in a broad global and chronological context. In doing so, it definitively fills a massive lacuna in the scholarly literature while offering fascinating insights into the long historical transition to modernity.

Art Visual Culture 1100-1600: Medieval to Renaissance


Kim W. Woods - 2013
    Key artists such as Simone Martini and Botticelli are included, along with defining monuments of the period such as the Basilica of Saint Denis and Westminster Abbey.

I See London, I See France


Paulita Kincer - 2013
    Tired of being the perfect wife, she escapes to rediscover herself, and possibly rekindle the unrequited love of a Frenchman from her college days. While shepherding her kids from London to Scotland then Paris to Provence, she finds herself at a crossroads. Does she choose love, or lust, in the arms of a European man, or should she try again with the father of her children and the man she truly loved, once?

André Le Nôtre in Perspective


Patricia Bouchenot-Déchin - 2013
    The parks created by him at Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles are the supreme examples of the French 17th-century style of garden design. He was responsible also for the central pathway through the Tuileries, which became the grand axis of Paris running to the Arc de Triomphe and on to La Défense.   This magnificent book sheds new light on the royal gardener’s life and his practice as a landscape architect, engineer and art collector, and examines the legacy of his influence. It highlights his major achievements and enhances our understanding of the French formal-garden model. Le Nôtre’s output is re-examined in terms of its social and cultural contexts; its artistic, technological, material and spatial components; and the dissemination of his ideas. The book contains illustrations of both original documents and the majority of extant drawings by Le Nôtre and his collaborators.  Comprehensive and impeccably researched, André Le Nôtre in Perspective brings together the scholarship of some of the world’s leading experts in early-modern art, gardens and allied fields.

Art Visual Culture 1600-1850: Academy to Avant-Garde


Emma Barker - 2013
    Key topics include baroque Rome, Dutch paintings of the Golden Age, Georgian London, the Paris salon, and the impact of the discovery of the South Pacific.

Barbara Wright: Translation as Art


Debra Kelly - 2013
    This wonderful collection of texts about and by Barbara Wright--including work by David Bellos, Breon Mitchell, and Nick Wadley, as well as a previously unpublished screenplay written and translated by Wright in collaboration with Robert Pinget--begins the work of properly commemorating a figure toward whom all of English letters owes an unpayable debt.

J'aime Paris


Alain Ducasse - 2013
    From warm breakfast croissants along the Canal Saint-Martin to a magical dinner at the Eiffel Tower, Ducasse takes us on the ultimate gourmet voyage around the city famous for its cooking. Here is a guide to the finest fresh ingredients, artisanal products, cafés, restaurants, wine bars, cheese and chocolate shops, and much more—complete with the histories of the places and stories about the people who create culinary delights every day. Like Ducasse’s J’aime New York, this volume is a stunning work of photographic reportage, featuring more than 2,000 photographs and a handy, removable guidebook. This gorgeous volume is essential for tourists, armchair travelers, and food lovers.

Antigone, in Her Unbearable Splendor: New Essays on Jacques Lacan's The Ethics of Psychoanalysis


Charles Freeland - 2013
    Lacan himself embraced the term anti-philosophy in characterizing his work, and yet his seminars undeniably evince rich engagement with the Western philosophical tradition. These essays explore how Lacan's work challenges and builds on this tradition of ethical and political thought, connecting his ethics of psychoanalysis to both the classical Greek tradition of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and to the Enlightenment tradition of Kant, Hegel, and de Sade. Charles Freeland shows how Lacan critically addressed some of the key ethical concerns of those traditions: the pursuit of truth and the ethical good, the ideals of self-knowledge and the care of the soul, and the relation of moral law to the tragic dimensions of death and desire. Rather than sustaining the characterization of Lacan's work as anti-philosophical, these essays identify a resonance capable of enriching philosophy by opening it to wider and evermore challenging perspectives.

The Devil's Garden: Rommel's Desperate Defense of Omaha Beach on D-Day


Steven J. Zaloga - 2013
    Army suffered enormous casualties on Omaha Beach* Focuses on Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, who oversaw German defenses in Normandy* Covers little-known aspects such as the German patrols tasked with shooting down the pigeons the French Resistance used to send messages to the Allies* Relies on original research, including recently discovered German artillery maps* Zaloga's well-supported conclusions are sure to spark debate

The Normandy Invasion, June 1944: Looking Down on War


Roy Stanley - 2013
    The RAF and USAAF imagery used is almost entirely from long dormant U.S. Department of Defence Intelligence files. Examining the invasion scene beach-by-beach,the eyes of a trained, experienced photo interpreter uncover details a layman would certainly miss. This overview of Normandy landings and subsequent combat shows the scope and sweep of battle and helps explain why some objectives were reached, why some units forged ahead where others were stalled. We see the beaches as never before; their width at low tide; the support vessels off shore and equipment moving inland; formidable beach obstacles, and pre-invasion aerial reconnaissance. Think of this book as an adjunct to all the ground-level photos you have seen of men leaving landing craft or crouching beside sea walls - a different perspective on one of the momentous military actions of the last hundred years. Refer to this book when you read about D-Day and actually see what other authors have written about.

Four French Plays: Cinna / The Misanthrope / Andromache / Phaedra


Jean Racine - 2013
    In Corneille's Cinna (1640), absolute power is explored in ancient Rome, while Molière's The Misanthrope (1666), the only comedy in this collection, sees its anti-hero outcast for his refusal to conform to social conventions. Here also are two key plays by Racine: Andromache (1667), recounting the tragedy of Hector's widow after the Trojan War, and Phaedre (1677), showing a mother crossing the bounds of love with her son.John Edmunds' translation of Phaedra was originally broadcast on Radio Three with a cast including Prunella Scales and Timothy West, and was subsequently praised by Harold Pinter. This is the first time it has been published.Often hailed as the father of French tragedy, PIERRE CORNEILLE made his name with the tragicomedy Le Cid in 1637. His best-known works include the tragedies Horace (1640) and Cinna (1641). MOLIÈRE founded the 'Illustre Théâtre' troupe and wrote numerous comedies, including Tartuffe (1664), which was banned, Le Misanthrope (1666) and L'Avare (1668). JEAN RACINE became known as one of the period's leading playwrights, with such tragedies as Andromaque (1667), Britannicus (1669) and Phèdre (1677).After a varied career as an actor, teacher, and BBC TV national newsreader, JOHN EDMUNDS became the founder-director of Aberystwyth university's department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies.JOSEPH HARRIS is Senior Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Hidden Agendas: Cross-Dressing in Seventeenth-Century France (2005).

Art of the Actual: Naturalism and Style in Early Third Republic France, 1880-1900


Richard Thomson - 2013
    The regime pursued secular policies and emphasized its commitment to science and technology. Naturalism was an ideal aesthetic match for the republican ideology; it emphasized that art should be drawn from the everyday world, that all subjects were worthy of treatment, and that there should be flexibility in representation to allow for different voices."Art of the Actual" examines the use of naturalism in the 19th-century. It explores how pictures by artists such as Roll, Lhermitte, and Friant could be read as egalitarian and republican, assesses how well-known painters including Degas, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec situated their painting vis-a-vis the dominant naturalism, and opens up new arguments about caricatural and popular style. By illuminating the role of naturalism in a broad range of imagery in late 19th-century France, Richard Thomson provides a new interpretation of the art of the period.

Foucault's History of Sexuality Volume I, the Will to Knowledge: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide


Mark G.E. Kelly - 2013
    Now, this is the first reading guide to Foucault's dense and sometimes confusing text. Mark Kelly systematically unpacks the intricacies of Foucault's dense and sometimes confusing exposition, in a straightforward way, putting it in its historical and theoretical context. He looks at the book, its structure and philosophical significance, and corrects several key mistranslations in the only available English version of the 'Will to Knowledge'.

Louis XVI and the French Revolution


Alison Johnson - 2013
    Facing the rapidly changing desires of his subjects, he gave way to the policies they demanded. Few rulers have acquiesced to such startling changes of government within such a brief span of time. Louis XVI lacked the charisma of Marie Antoinette, but he is remarkable for the courage he exhibited when facing violent armed men only a few feet away. The quiet dignity with which he approached his execution has been praised by countless people, including Albert Camus and Victor Hugo. This biography traces the painfully exciting events involving Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their two children. The royal family was first taken by a violent mob from Versailles to Paris. They attempted an escape but it failed when they had almost reached safety. A year later the king and queen were guillotined.

Traditional Enemies: Britain's War with Vichy France 1940-1942


John D. Grainger - 2013
    The British, dependent upon their naval power and the resources of the Empire and Commonwealth to continue the war, sought to neutralize the threat of the French fleet and saw an opportunity to gobble up certain French colonies for themselves. Thus, even while Britain was locked in a deadly struggle with Nazi Germany, she continued the centuries-old imperial rivalry with her nearest neighbor and recent allies. The British attack on the French Mediterranean fleet at Mers el Kebir is well known, but less often remembered are the British operations against Vichy forces in West Africa, Syria and Madagascar. As the latent threat of the French fleet was the chief source of British concern, the conflict was largely a naval one, but there were substantial land operations in Syria and Madagascar. In Syria and Lebanon, Operation Exporter pitted 20,000 British, Indian, Australian and Free French troops against 35,000 Vichy French who fought with much greater skill and determination than expected. Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Madagascar, saw three brigades of infantry, supported by light tanks, make the first large scale British amphibious assault since the ill-fated Gallipoli landings in WWI. John D Grainger narrates and analyses all the British operations, by land, sea and air, against the French up to the Anglo-American Torch landings in North Africa. He reveals the initial reluctance of the British forces to really get stuck into their erstwhile allies and the reverses that resulted from underestimating the will of the Vichy French to fight. The complicating factor of De Gaulle's Free French is another major theme. Above all, what emerges is that these are fascinating campaigns in their own right that have been unduly neglected.

Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France


Kathleen Wellman - 2013
    The book also addresses the enduring mythology surrounding these women, relating captivating tales that uncover much about Renaissance modes of argument, symbols, and values, as well as our own modern preoccupations.

Buonarroti's History of Babeuf's Conspiracy for Equality


Philippe Buonarroti - 2013
    This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Barricades: The Journey of Javert


C.A. Shilton - 2013
    A boy finds the strength to turn his destiny around. But at a price!The son of a convict and a gypsy, Javert is born in a prison cell. He lives his boyhood as a despised and bullied outcast. Overcoming all barriers, he becomes a successful police officer, but his harsh upbringing and the horrors of the French Revolution turn a vulnerable boy into an implacable adult. He is ashamed of his gypsy heritage and unyielding in his belief in right and wrong. When he is forced to confront both his rigid beliefs and the truth about his background, Javert faces the greatest challenge of his life.

Betrayal In The Louvre


H.J. Gaudreau - 2013
    Their opponents also learn avaluable lesson...don’t underestimate the Crenshaws.

Black Wings, A Novel of the French Revolution


Sophie Masson - 2013
    Much later, she wrote an article, 'Remembering the Vendée', which has had many readers, but it wasn't until many years later again that she first conceived the project of writing a novel about the tumultuous early years of the Revolution and the wars it unleashed.Framed by a prologue and epilogue set decades later, the main body of the novel is narrated by a young man facing execution in 1794, who tells his story and that of his friends, all from very different backgrounds. Masson succeeds movingly in giving the reader a feel for the way in which these things were experienced, not as great events, but as part of people's lives, affecting them in myriad ways, both great and small. She evokes a portrait of a whole community, and of a country, caught in the grip of massive change, of rebellion and counter-rebellion and the havoc of war, whose echoes remain in the Vendée and in France to this day."Masson writes like a native of the time Black Wings is set; when her characters speak, we hear the authentic voice of the 18th Century. Detailed, erudite and elegant, its characters lovingly drawn, this absorbing and deeply felt novel brings home to us the curse of living through interesting times. It will not let us forgive the French Revolution for The Terror so easily."Cassandra Golds, author of Clair-de-Lune, The Museum of Mary Child and The Three Loves of Persimmon."Masson's tale about the limits of friendship, set against the backdrop of those best and worst of times, captures perfectly the contradictions of revolution - the appeal of the brave new world, the ruthless destruction of old ways, the romance along with the tumult and the terror. Her tale of ordinary folk helplessly caught up in the maelstrom of history, made extraordinary by chance and circumstance, offers a vision of a past that isn't dusty, archaic and over, but vivid, engaging, alive."Wendy James, author of the award-winning Out of the Silence, The Steele Diaries and The Mistake."With skilful attention to detail, author Sophie Masson weaves a compelling tale of a nation caught up in a madness fuelled by a reckless and unrealistic idealism, and the four friends who, wittingly or not, were its victims. Set against this chilling account of the collective madness that led to the murderous rampages and bloodthirsty executions of the French Revolution is the story of Jacques' love for Flora - a love that will test everything he believes and holds dear. A great read for lovers of historical fiction with a dash of romance."Felicity Pulman, author of A Ring Through Time.

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism at the Dallas Museum of Art: The Richard R. Brettell Lecture Series


Heather MacDonaldNancy Locke - 2013
    Inspired by a series of public lectures given at the Dallas Museum of Art between 2009 and 2013, the volume comprises twelve beautifully illustrated essays from leading academics and museum specialists. Opening with a new reading of one of Gustave Courbet’s great hunting scenes, The Fox in the Snow, and ending with an exploration of a group of interior scenes by Edouard Vuillard, each essay stands alone as a richly contextualized reading of a single work or group of works by one artist. The authors approach their subjects from a range of methodological perspectives, but all pay close attention to the experience of making and viewing works of art.

The Honeylicker Angel


Anna Elkins - 2013
    Taking the biggest risk of her life, Melissa accepts the invitation, quits her job, and journeys to the Canal du Midi to meet her Aunt’s relatives, not knowing the strange and flavorful company they keep. If she can open the eyes of her heart, Mel may see that her life, her loves — her very name — are the sweet harvests of her most bitter fear.

The Fashionista Murders (Kate Conway, #3)


William Thomspon Ong - 2013
    

From the Kippah to the Cross - A Jew's Conversion to Catholicism


Jean-Marie Élie Serbon - 2013
    He hid a crucifix in his room and contemplated it often, even though he knew his family would be hurt and angry if they ever caught him.Seeing the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur from his apartment window, he was drawn to the church, where he found himself powerfully pulled toward Jesus in the Eucharist. After several years of surreptitiously attending Mass, he resolved to convert to Catholicism in spite of the scandal it would cause, but God had other plans.Upon graduation from secondary school, Jean-Marie moved to Israel to delve deeper into the faith of his ancestors. He lived in kibbutzim, learned about the history and religion of his people, served in the Israeli Army, and attended two different rabbinical schools. Eight years later he returned to France as an ultra-Orthodox Jew.While teaching in a Jewish school, Jean-Marie married a woman who shared his faith, and together they began raising a family; yet his yearning for Jesus remained, becoming the source of a long and difficult internal struggle.Jean-Marie’s moving and unusual conversion story is about his battle between loyalty to his identity and fidelity to the deepest desires of his heart. Above all, it is a love story between Christ, the Lover—the relentless yet patient pursuer—and man, his beloved.

Stagestruck


Lauren Clay - 2013
    During this era more than eighty provincial and colonial cities celebrated the inauguration of their first public playhouses. These theaters emerged as the most prominent urban cultural institutions in prerevolutionary France, becoming key sites for the articulation and contestation of social, political, and racial relationships. Combining rich description with nuanced analysis based on extensive archival evidence, Lauren R. Clay illuminates the wide-ranging consequences of theater's spectacular growth for performers, spectators, and authorities in cities throughout France as well as in the empire's most important Atlantic colony, Saint-Domingue.Clay argues that outside Paris the expansion of theater came about through local initiative, civic engagement, and entrepreneurial investment, rather than through actions or policies undertaken by the royal government and its agents. Reconstructing the business of theatrical production, she brings to light the efforts of a wide array of investors, entrepreneurs, directors, and actors--including women and people of color--who seized the opportunities offered by commercial theater to become important agents of cultural change.Portraying a vital and increasingly consumer-oriented public sphere beyond the capital, Stagestruck overturns the long-held notion that cultural change flowed from Paris and the royal court to the provinces and colonies. This deeply researched book will appeal to historians of Europe and the Atlantic world, particularly those interested in the social and political impact of the consumer revolution and the forging of national and imperial cultural networks. In addition to theater and literary scholars, it will attract the attention of historians and sociologists who study business, labor history, and the emergence of the modern French state.

Beyond the Balance of Power: France and the Politics of National Security in the Era of the First World War


Peter Jackson - 2013
    Peter Jackson examines the interplay between two contending conceptions of security: the first based on traditional practices of power politics and the second on internationalist doctrines that emerged in the late nineteenth century. He pays particular attention to the social and political context in which security policy was made and to the cultural dynamics of the policy-making process. The result is a comprehensive reassessment of France's security policy in the era of the Great War. The book reconsiders the evolution of French war aims and reinterprets the peace policy of the Clemenceau government in 1919. It provides a perspective on the foreign policy of successive French governments in the early 1920s, and also shows that internationalist ideas were far more influential over this entire period than is commonly understood.

Rogues, Romance, and Exoticism in French Cinema of the 1930s


Colleen Kennedy-Karpat - 2013
    These films often served as visual postcards from the French empire, which enjoyed an unprecedented visibility in domestic popular culture between the world wars. But the public appetite for the exotic also transcended imperial borders. Exoticist films displayed landscapes and different that lay beyond the metropole, many of which were not subject to European rule. This broad conception of the exotic meant that French narrative cinema represented both colonial and non-colonial settings and populations, developing a coherent set of tropes that were shaped, yet not entirely defined, by the politics of imperial rule. Empire alone cannot address the full range of the French exoticist imaginary that was projected onto movie screens in the 30s. Only by venturing beyond imperial boundaries can we fully understand how the French saw non-Westerners and, by extension, how they saw themselves during this tumultuous decade. Rogues, Romance, and Exoticism in French Cinema of the 1930s proposes a critical framework for exoticist cinema that includes and exceeds the limits of empire. From rogue colons to the metisse in love, from the deserts of North Africa to the streets of Shanghai, this book identifies and analyzes recurring figures, common settings, major stars, plot devices, and narrative outcomes that dominated exoticist cinema at its popular peak.