Best of
France

2015

But You Did Not Come Back


Marceline Loridan-Ivens - 2015
    It is the profoundly moving and poetic memoir by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, who at the age of fifteen was arrested in occupied France, along with her father. Later, in the camps, he managed to smuggle a note to her, a sign of life that made all the difference to Marceline—but he died in the Holocaust, while Marceline survived. In But You Did Not Come Back, Marceline writes back to her father, the man whose death overshadowed her whole life. Although her grief never diminished in its intensity, Marceline ultimately found her calling, working as both an activist and a documentary filmmaker. But now, as France and Europe in general faces growing anti-Semitism, Marceline feels pessimistic about the future. Her testimony is a memorial, a confrontation, and a deeply affecting personal story of a woman whose life was shattered and never totally rebuilt.

Mademoiselle Chanel


C.W. Gortner - 2015
    The sisters nurture Gabrielle’s exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.Transforming herself into Coco—a seamstress and sometime torch singer—the petite brunette burns with ambition, an incandescence that draws a wealthy gentleman who will become the love of her life. She immerses herself in his world of money and luxury, discovering a freedom that sparks her creativity. But it is only when her lover takes her to Paris that Coco discovers her destiny.Rejecting the frilly, corseted silhouette of the past, her sleek, minimalist styles reflect the youthful ease and confidence of the 1920s modern woman. As Coco’s reputation spreads, her couturier business explodes, taking her into rarefied society circles and bohemian salons. But her fame and fortune cannot save her from heartbreak as the years pass. And when Paris falls to the Nazis, Coco is forced to make choices that will haunt her.An enthralling novel of an extraordinary woman who created the life she desired, Mademoiselle Chanel explores the inner world of a woman of staggering ambition whose strength, passion and artistic vision would become her trademark.

My Secret Guide to Paris


Lisa Schroeder - 2015
    But when Sylvia suddenly passes away just months before their planned trip, Nora thinks she's lost everything.Nora still dreams of Paris--and when she finds her own name on a set of clues to a Parisian scavenger hunt packed away in her grandmother's room, along with plane tickets, Nora knows that Sylvia still wants her to go, too.At last, Nora sets off on the adventure--and mystery--of a lifetime. What did Grandma Sylvia want her to find in Paris? Why do all the clues insist that Nora's mother be with her? And could the key to healing and forgiveness be found at the top of the Eiffel Tower?

My Grape Year


Laura Bradbury - 2015
    In a last-minute twist of fate, Laura is sent to Burgundy, France for a year on an exchange. She arrives knowing only a smattering of French and with no idea what to expect in her first foray out of North America. With a head full of dreams and a powerful desire to please, Laura adapts to Burgundian life, learning crucial skills such as the fine art of winetasting and how to savor snails. However, her inability to resist the charming young men of the region means that Laura soon runs afoul of the rules, particularly the ‘no dating’ edict. Romantic afternoons in Dijon, early morning pain au chocolat runs, and long walks in the vineyards are wondrous, but also present Laura with a conundrum – how does she keep her hosts happy while still managing to follow her heart?

A Desperate Fortune


Susanna Kearsley - 2015
    Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas has been hired by a once-famous historian to crack the journal's cipher.But when she arrives in Paris, Sara finds herself besieged by complications from all sides: the journal's reclusive owner, her charming Parisian neighbor, and Mary, whose journal doesn't hold the secrets Sara expects. As Mary's tale grows more and more dire, Sara, too, must carefully choose which turning to take... to find the road that will lead her safely home.

Grace


Mary Casanova - 2015
    She and her French cousin aren't getting along, and Grace's friends back home have started a business without her. Can she find the courage to stay open to new ideas and turn the summer around?

750 Years in Paris


Vincent Mahé - 2015
    Beginning in the thirteenth century and making its way towards today, this historically accurate story is the eagerly anticipated debut from Vincent Mahé.Vincent Mahé is fast being established as one of the most exciting illustrators to come out of France. As well as his contribution to Nobrow 8: Hysteria he has been widely commissioned across the world to illustrate for publications such as the New York Times and XXI Magazine.

The Silent Hours


Cesca Major - 2015
     The Silent Hours follows three people whose lives are bound together, before war tears them apart: Adeline, a mute who takes refuge in a convent, haunted by memories of her past; Sebastian, a young Jewish banker whose love for the beautiful Isabelle will change the course of his life dramatically; Tristin, a nine-year-old boy, whose family moves from Paris to settle in a village that is seemingly untouched by war. Beautifully wrought, utterly compelling and with a shocking true story at its core, The Silent Hours is an unforgettable portrayal of love and loss. Praise for The Silent Hours: 'Absorbing and - ultimately - horrifying. A gripping, fictional account of a real event in war-time France, told with a sensuous clarity. A haunting and illuminating debut novel' Wendy Wallace

To Live Out Loud


Paulette Mahurin - 2015
    The news that could exonerate him was leaked to the press, but was suppressed by the military. Anyone who sought to reopen the Dreyfus court-martial became victimized and persecuted and was considered an enemy of the state. Emile Zola, a popular journalist determined to bring the truth to light, undertook the challenge to publicly expose the facts surrounding the military cover-up. This is the story of Zola's battle to help Alfred Dreyfus reclaim his freedom and clear his name. Up against anti-Semitism, military resistance, and opposition from the Church in France, Zola committed his life to fighting for justice. But was it worth all the costs to him, to those around him, and to France?

The Bridal Chair


Gloria Goldreich - 2015
    But her newfound independence is short-lived. In Nazi-occupied Paris, Chagall's status as a Jewish artist has made them all targets, yet his devotion to his art blinds him to their danger. When Ida falls in love and Chagall angrily paints an empty wedding chair (The Bridal Chair) in response, she faces an impossible choice: Does she fight to forge her own path outside her father's shadow, or abandon her ambitions to save Chagall from his enemies and himself? Brimming with historic personalities from Europe, America and Israel, The Bridal Chair is a stunning portrait of love, fortitude, and the sharp divide between art and real life.

The Mother and The Father


Florian Zeller - 2015
    Years later, spending hours alone, Anne convinces herself that her husband is having an affair. If only her son were to break-up with his girlfriend. He would return home and come down for breakfast. She would put on her new red dress and they would go out. The Mother, in this English translation by Christopher Hampton, was commissioned by the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath, and premiered in May 2015. Florian Zeller's The Mother was awarded the Moliere Award for Best Play 2011.The Father, in this English translation by Christopher Hampton, was commissioned by the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath and premiered in October 2014. The production transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London, in May 2015. Florian Zeller's The Father was awarded the Moliere Award for Best Play 2014.

Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris


Alex Kershaw - 2015
    So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son Phillip at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high. Just down the road at Number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, an Eichmann protégé charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. And Number 84 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo, run by the most effective spy hunter in Nazi Germany.From his office at the American Hospital, itself an epicenter of Allied and Axis intrigue, Jackson smuggled fallen Allied fighter pilots safely out of France, a job complicated by the hospital director's close ties to collaborationist Vichy. After witnessing the brutal round-up of his Jewish friends, Jackson invited Liberation to officially operate out of his home at Number 11--but the noose soon began to tighten. When his secret life was discovered by his Nazi neighbors, he and his family were forced to undertake  a journey into the dark heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return.Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw recreates the City of Light during its darkest days. The untold story of the Jackson family anchors the suspenseful narrative, and Kershaw dazzles readers with the vivid immediacy of the best spy thrillers. Awash with the tense atmosphere of World War II's Europe, Avenue of Spies introduces us to the brave doctor who risked everything to defy Hitler.

A Spell in Provence


Marie Laval - 2015
    Though she has big plans for her new home, none of them involves falling in love — least of all with Fabien Coste, the handsome but arrogant owner of the nearby château. As romance blossoms in the beautiful Provençal countryside, disturbing events at the farmhouse hint at a dark mystery — a destructive, centuries-old attachment between the ladies of Bellefontaine and the ducs de Coste. As Amy struggles to unravel the mystery, she begins to wonder if it may not just be her heart at risk, but her life too.

A Day with Marie Antoinette


Hélène Delalex - 2015
    Marie Antoinette was a mirror of her time. Never has a queen been so passionately admired and adulated, then hunted, vilified, and defamed. Spanning her tragically brief yet passionate life—from the young queen playing a shepherdess on stage, unaware of the turmoil in the capital, to France’s guillotined “martyr queen"—the author demystifies the legend, unveiling the woman behind the queen, and the wife and mother behind the sovereign.  Readers will experience the palatial luxury of the queen’s Versailles by tracing Marie Antoinette’s footsteps through the royal residence, as well as discovering her voice through rare letters and encountering little-known works in her private art collection.

Open Letter: On Blasphemy, Islamophobia, and the True Enemies of Free Expression


Charb - 2015
    They took the lives of twelve men and women, but they called for one man by name: "Charb." Known by his pen name, Stéphane Charbonnier was editor in chief of Charlie Hebdo, an outspoken critic of religious fundamentalism, and a renowned political cartoonist in his own right. In the past, he had received death threats and had even earned a place on Al Qaeda's "Most Wanted List." On January 7 it seemed that Charb's enemies had finally succeeded in silencing him. But in a twist of fate befitting Charb's defiant nature, it was soon revealed that he had finished a book just two days before his murder on the very issues at the heart of the attacks: blasphemy, Islamophobia, and the necessary courage of satirists. Here, published for the first time in English, is Charb's final work. A searing criticism of hypocrisy and racism, and a rousing, eloquent defense of free speech, Open Letter shows Charb's words to be as powerful and provocative as his art. This is an essential book about race, religion, the voice of ethnic minorities and majorities in a pluralistic society, and above all, the right to free expression and the surprising challenges being leveled at it in our fraught and dangerous time.

Provenance


Donna Drew Sawyer - 2015
    Southern civility turns savage when Hank Whitaker’s dying words reveal the unimaginable. No one—not his socialite wife, Maggie, or young son, Lance—ever suspected the successful businessman, husband and father they loved, and thought they knew, was a black man passing for white. In 1931, in the segregated South, marriage between whites and blacks is illegal. Maggie faces jail for her crime of interracial marriage, but when Lance receives death threats to atone for his father’s betrayal, the family decides to flee the U.S. for freedom in racially and socially liberal society in Paris, France.Still grieving Hank’s death and fearful of their uncertain future as Europe marches toward war, Lance and Maggie mourn the lives they loved but lost. As they struggle to create new identities for themselves, they find a surprising community of artists and American expats that are on the same journey. In a new city, with new friends, new loves and exciting possibilities, they start to believe that it might be possible to change everything, even the past.Provenance is a sweeping historical saga about love, betrayal, tragedy, triumph, passion, privilege and the universal desire for acceptance—regardless of who you are or where you’re from.

The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution


Timothy Tackett - 2015
    Only a few years earlier, revolutionaries had proclaimed a new era of tolerance, equal justice, and human rights. How and why did the French Revolution's lofty ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity descend into violence and terror?The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution offers a new interpretation of this turning point in world history. Timothy Tackett traces the inexorable emergence of a culture of violence among the Revolution's political elite amid the turbulence of popular uprisings, pervasive subversion, and foreign invasion. Violence was neither a preplanned strategy nor an ideological imperative but rather the consequence of multiple factors of the Revolutionary process itself, including an initial breakdown in authority, the impact of the popular classes, and a cycle of rumors, denunciations, and panic fed by fear--fear of counterrevolutionary conspiracies, fear of anarchy, fear of oneself becoming the target of vengeance. To comprehend the coming of the Terror, we must understand the contagion of fear that left the revolutionaries themselves terrorized.Tackett recreates the sights, sounds, and emotions of the Revolution through the observations of nearly a hundred men and women who experienced and recorded it firsthand. Penetrating the mentality of Revolutionary elites on the eve of the Terror, he reveals how suspicion and mistrust escalated and helped propel their actions, ultimately consuming them and the Revolution itself.

Sweet Encore: A Road Trip from Paris to Portugal, via northern Spain (Tout Sweet Book 4)


Karen Wheeler - 2015
    Her latest memoir – the long-awaited sequel to Tout Soul – features more tales from the French countryside and takes the reader on a 3000-kilometre road trip from Paris to Spain and Portugal. Accompanied by her sixteen-year-old niece and her charismatic black dog Biff, the author mingles with surfers in Biarritz, upsets religious pilgrims in Fatima and learns never to argue with a Spanish waiter. She also discovers Lisbon’s best-kept secret and how to ‘be like a bee’ in Madeira. Meanwhile, back in France, a new expat is behaving very badly indeed… Featuring a quirky cast of characters in the French countryside, Sweet Encore is sprinkled with anecdotes form the author’s previous life as a fashion editor – meeting Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York, incurring the wrath of a famous Italian fashion designer, and receiving an invitation to a private dinner with Madonna in Milan. So, pour yourself a glass of something chilled, sit back and enjoy a sparkling summer read.

Marie Antoinette: An Intimate History


Melanie Clegg - 2015
    As wife of Louis XVI of France she was first feted and adored and then universally hated as tales of her dissipated lifestyle and extravagance pulled the already discredited monarchy into a maelstrom of revolution, disaster and tragedy.This illustrated first biography by historian and writer Melanie Clegg takes a fresh look at the story of this most fascinating and misunderstood of queens, exploring her personal tribulations as well as the series of disasters that brought her to the guillotine in October 1793.Melanie Clegg is the author of five historical novels and is also a regular contributor to Majesty magazine and her own women's history blog Madame Guillotine. Her second biography, a life of Marie de Guise, is due to be published by Pen and Sword Books in 2016.

Paris: A Book of Shapes


Ashley Evanson - 2015
    Paris is a treasure trove of fascinating shapes: there are triangles at the Louvre Museum, rectangles at Notre-Dame Cathedral, arches at the Arc de Triomphe, and stars in a beautiful Parisian night sky. Explore shapes all over Paris in this gorgeous board book!

Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune


Kristin Ross - 2015
    Today’s concerns—internationalism, education, the future of labor, the status of art, and ecological theory and practice—frame and inform her carefully researched restaging of the words and actions of individual Communards. This original analysis of an event and its centrifugal effects brings to life the workers in Paris who became revolutionaries, the significance they attributed to their struggle, and the elaboration and continuation of their thought in the encounters that transpired between the insurrection’s survivors and supporters like Marx, Kropotkin, and William Morris.The Paris Commune was a laboratory of political invention, important simply and above all for, as Marx reminds us, its own “working existence.” Communal Luxury allows readers to revisit the intricate workings of an extraordinary experiment.

Monet's Palate Cookbook: The Artist & His Kitchen Garden At Giverny


Aileen Bordman - 2015
    Written by filmmaker Aileen Bordman and garden writer Derek Fell, the book includes sixty recipes linked to Monet's two-acre kitchen garden near his home at Giverny, France. Included is detailed information about the vegetables he grew, plus exquisite photographs and descriptions of the house interiors and gardens capturing Monet's extraordinary lifestyle; French tips for entertaining; as well as recipes inspired by his cooking journals and places he visited.

The Other Paris


Luc Sante - 2015
    In The Other Paris, Luc Sante gives us a panoramic view of that second metropolis, which has nearly vanished but whose traces are in the bricks and stones of the contemporary city, in the culture of France itself, and, by extension, throughout the world.Drawing on testimony from a great range of witnesses-from Balzac and Hugo to assorted boulevardiers, rabble-rousers, and tramps-Sante, whose thorough research is matched only by the vividness of his narration, takes the reader on a whirlwind tour. Richly illustrated with more than three hundred images, The Other Paris scuttles through the knotted streets of pre-Haussmann Paris, through the improvised accommodations of the original bohemians, through the whorehouses and dance halls and hobo shelters of the old city.A lively survey of labor conditions, prostitution, drinking, crime, and popular entertainment, and of the reporters, réaliste singers, pamphleteers, and poets who chronicled their evolution, The Other Paris is a book meant to upend the story of the French capital, to reclaim the city from the bons vivants and the speculators, and to hold a light to the works and lives of those expunged from its center by the forces of profit.

Bright Lights Paris: Shop, Dine & Live...Parisian Style


Angie Niles - 2015
    After spending much of her life mining the secrets of La Parisienne, Angie has discovered there are as many ways to be Parisian as there are arrondissements. Find out what Saint Germain women wear, where Canal Saint Martin girls shop and hang out with their friends, the décor tricks of the artistic ladies in Montmartre, and how to cook and entertain—as if you just rolled out of bed and onto the cobblestone streets of Le Marais…Featuring hundreds of stunning photographs and original fashion illustrations, as well as fabulous tips from celebrities, fashion designers, bloggers, chefs, and more!

A Habit of Resistance


Fernando A. Torres - 2015
    Sister Marie's latest novitiate is a young woman named Noele whose fiancé, René, fled to Paris only to find it overrun by the Nazis. Now back in sleepy Brassac, both René and Noele realize that decisions of love and liberation can never, truly, be avoided. Sister Marie is not unsympathetic to the emotions with which Noele battles; having gone through a similar struggle when she was young. The offbeat nuns must wrestle with how far to expand the margins of their vows, in hopes of saving their town and themselves. A Habit of Resistance is a humorous, but thought-provoking story of personal denial and redemption.

The Little Prince


Valeria Manferto de Fabianis - 2015
    Now one of the most famous literacy works of the 20th century has been re-imagined in this new edition by White Star. Follow the tale of the Little Prince as he discovers the universe and learns lessons about life and love. Enriched with lavish illustrations by Manuela Adreani an artist who, with her rare sensitivity, has created a beautifully original version of this story to cherish. "

Bridges of Paris


Michael Saint James - 2015
    The famous love-locks of Paris, are portrayed at the peek of their glory, along with stunning portraits of each bridge and intimate riverside moments. Discover the unique history of every bridge crossing the Seine. Once you've experienced this river tour, you will never see Paris the same way again. Living as a Parisian for a year, author Michael Saint James left his American lifestyle to immersed himself in French culture and search out a fresh view of this celebrated travel destination. The result is a visual treasure to share with everyone."This book is not only beautiful, it is of pure heart." - C. Roquet

Into the Fire


Manda Scott - 2015
    This is the fourth in a series of increasingly brutal arson attacks, and at the centre of the conflagration lies a body. An Islamic extremist faction claims responsibility, but Inés and her team cannot trace its whereabouts, or any evidence of its existence. And a partly melted memory card found in the victim's throat is the only clue to his identity.September 1429: Joan of Arc is in the process of turning the tide of The Hundred Years' War. English troops have Orléans under siege, and Tomas Rustbeard, the Duke of Bedford's most accomplished agent, finally has her in his sights. But he knows that killing 'The Maid' – the apparently illiterate peasant girl who nonetheless has an unmatched sense of military strategy and can ride a warhorse in battle – is not enough. He must destroy the legend that has already grown around her. And to do that, he must get close enough to discover who she really is.More fires rage and the death toll mounts while Inés fights to discover what connects an expert in the analysis of war graves, the unquenchable ambitions of the Family which seeks to hold the city in its absolute power, and the discredited historical theories of her own late and much lamented father.When Tomas risks everything to infiltrate the hotly defended inner circle of the Saviour of France, he finally discovers a secret that will prove as explosive nearly six hundred years later as it would do if revealed in his own time.As each thread of Manda Scott's immaculately interwoven narrative unfolds, Inés and Tomas's quests become linked across the centuries. And in their pursuit of the truth, they find that love is as enduring as myth – but can lead to the greatest and most heart-breaking of sacrifices.

Gustave Caillebotte: The Painter's Eye


Mary Morton - 2015
    His paintings are favorites of museum-goers, and recent restoration of his work has revealed more color, texture, and detail than was visible before while heightening interest in all of Caillebotte’s artwork. This lush companion volume to the National Gallery of Art’s major new exhibition, coorganized with the Kimbell Art Museum, explores the power and technical brilliance of his oeuvre. The book features fifty of Caillebotte’s strongest paintings, including post-conservation images of Paris Street; Rainy Day, along with The Floorscrapers and Pont de l’Europe, all of which date from a particularly fertile period between 1875 and 1882. The artist was criticized at the time for being too realistic and not impressionistic enough, but he was a pioneer in adopting the angled perspective of a modern camera to compose his scenes. Caillebotte’s skill and originality are evident even in the book’s reproductions, and the essays offer critical insights into his inspiration and subjects. This sumptuously illustrated publication makes clear why Caillebotte is among the most intriguing artists of nineteenth-century France, and it deepens our understanding of the history of impressionism.

Paris at War: 1939-1944


David Drake - 2015
    Readers will relive the fearful exodus from the city as the German army neared the capital, the relief and disgust felt when the armistice was signed, and the hardships and deprivations under Occupation. David Drake contrasts the plight of working-class Parisians with the comparative comfort of the rich, exposes the activities of collaborationists, and traces the growth of the Resistance from producing leaflets to gunning down German soldiers. He details the intrigues and brutality of the occupying forces, and life in the notorious transit camp at nearby Drancy, along with three other less well known Jewish work camps within the city.The book gains its vitality from the diaries and reminiscences of people who endured these tumultuous years. Drake’s cast of characters comes from all walks of life and represents a diversity of political views and social attitudes. We hear from a retired schoolteacher, a celebrated economist, a Catholic teenager who wears a yellow star in solidarity with Parisian Jews, as well as Resistance fighters, collaborators, and many other witnesses.Drake enriches his account with details from police records, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and newsreels. From his chronology emerge the broad rhythms and shifting moods of the city. Above all, he explores the contingent lives of the people of Paris, who, unlike us, co­uld not know how the story would end.

White City


Seb Doubinsky - 2015
    Nothing ever happens in White City, even though everybody dreams of living there. When Niels Kepler, infamous brother to the Phoebus Industry heiress Marta Kepler, is murdered at his home, the shock wave is tremendous, sending jaded Detective-Inspector Sigrid Wulff, ambitious local journalist Leila Bogossian and best-selling horror writer Lee Jones Jr. into a chaos of corrupt politics, family secrets and bad craziness from the past, from which none of them will come out intact

The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom


Nancy Goldstone - 2015
    Her youngest daughter Marguerite, the glamorous "Queen Margot," was a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother could neither intimidate nor control.When Catherine forces the Catholic Marguerite to marry her Protestant cousin Henry of Navarre against her will, and then uses her opulent Parisian wedding as a means of luring his followers to their deaths, she creates not only savage conflict within France but also a potent rival within her own family.Rich in detail and vivid prose, Goldstone's narrative unfolds as a thrilling historical epic. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, inter-national espionage, and adultery form the background to a story that includes such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Nostradamus. The Rival Queens is a dangerous tale of love, betrayal, ambition, and the true nature of courage, the echoes of which still resonate.

Ravilious


James Russell - 2015
    Adopting the wide-ranging approach familiar to readers of his previous books on the artist, author James Russell explores the evolution of a remarkable talent. An introductory section offers an intimate portrait of Ravilious, an artist for whom personal relationships, particularly with women, were paramount. It goes on to describe the extraordinary achievements of an all-too-brief career, drawing on new research to seek out artistic influences and examine Ravilious's relationships with fellow-artists, as well as the development of his mark making.There follows the most comprehensive display of Ravilious watercolours yet assembled. Some have never been published, while others are familiar and well loved. Many are explored in short accompanying essays, some with full-bleed images that show details of paintings at full size. These texts are designed to entertain and enlighten, looking at composition, technique, influence and inspiration, or discussing the significance of particular subjects and the people behind the scenes. This is the definitive guide to the luminous, evocative and timeless watercolours of Eric Ravilious, an artist now regarded as one of the finest of the twentieth century.

24 Hours at Agincourt


Michael Jones - 2015
    And so they did—launching themselves at the English line. Croy and all 18 of these knights were killed in fierce fighting, but not before they had got close enough to the king to strike repeated blows on his battle helmet, one of them severely damaging the crown that was welded to it—so that two of its rubies were smashed off." In 24 Hours at Agincourt, published to tie in with the 600th anniversary of Agincourt, Michael Jones brings the iconic battle vividly to life, drawing on countless authentic eyewitness accounts to showcase both sides of the conflict in a panoramic tour-de-force.

Charlie Hebdo - Journal Irresponsable (#1178)


Charlie Hebdo - 2015
    French Satirical Newspaper

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir


David Coggins - 2015
    This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights the family's passion for art and food, fashion and social life. Family rituals--from having lunch each January at the delightful Le Grand Vefour to haunting favorite antique shops and seeking out-of-the-ordinary spots, like a little known garden or a gypsy circus--are interspersed with serendipitous moments: hearing Bono sing "Happy Birthday" to a friend in a bistro, adopting an abandoned lap dog, and the simple pleasures of Parisian street life.     Coggins's delicate and intimate drawings capture classic Parisian scenes as well as family and friends against the backdrop of the elegant City of Light under the cloak of winter. Across cafés and hotels, apartments and galleries, the family mixes with a lively group of Parisian and international actors, designers, writers, and students. Furthermore, Coggins weaves in fascinating bits of the city's history and artistic lore, from Victor Hugo's interior designs to the painting that legend has it started Impressionism, to delight Francophiles all over.

The House on Rue Obscure (Echoes of the Cathars)


Sarah W. Sparx - 2015
     Great-aunt Jeanne’s deadly fall down her 800 year-old staircase leads her niece Chantal Harrison to the baffling discovery that her great-aunt had sold her lovingly preserved medieval home the day she died. When Chantal commits to unraveling what, or who, forced Jeanne to sell her home, she is assailed with dangerous domestic accidents by day and maddening visions by night. Is the house guarding its centuries-old Cathar secrets or is a modern day villain to blame? Forced into a wary alliance with Berenger Morel, the new owner, who is also her top suspect, Chantal soon finds her heart faces even more danger than her body and mind.

Gambrelli and the Prosecutor


Laurence Giliotti - 2015
    France 1934. On a coastal island the Provincial Police arrest the senior prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice for the murder of his mistress. Chief Inspector Gambrelli, of the Metropolitan Police, is dispatched from the City to review the case and report his findings to the Ministry. Suffering the heat and humidity of the island Gambrelli begins his inquiry asking more questions than the local authorities can answer. He leaves the sun bleached, sandy streets of the island and returns to the grand boulevards and cobblestone alleyways of the City. Methodically the chief Inspector probes the lives of the prosecutor, his wife, and his mistress. Simultaneously detectives search for the murdered woman’s younger sister, fearing she may become the killer’s next victim. Following a twisting path of love, betrayal, greed, and violence Gambrelli searches for the motive that led a killer to a young woman’s door.

Kids Cook French: Les enfants cuisinent a la francaise


Claudine Pépin - 2015
    It gets them interested in making their own meals and better eating habits, while also teaching them the importance of culture. Featuring classic, simple dishes inspired by French cuisine, each recipe is shown in both French and English and accompanied by charming illustrations. With an emphasis on fresh ingredients and hands-on preparation, dishes include traditional starters, main courses, and desserts. Your child's creativity will be sparked, as will your deeper connection with them--so, get them in that kitchen and start playing chef. Who knows - you might have the next great French cuisine Chef standing next to you!"Kids Cook French is a magical introduction to some of the most delicious French classics. With Claudine's recipes, her father's and her daughter's illustrations, this is a book by a family for your family." - Dana Cowin, Editor in Chief, FOOD & WINE"I cannot think of anyone more qualified to write a French cookbook for children than Claudine Pepin! A trusted television personality, accomplished cook, seasoned teacher, and dedicated mom, Claudine has spent her entire life learning from and cooking alongside the most renowned chefs in the world. Complete with countless personal stories, beautiful illustrations by her father and her daughter, and timeless recipes developed with her husband, Kids Cook French is an absolute delight for the whole family and a source of inspiration for aspiring chefs of all ages. Bravo!" - Gail Simmons, TV host and author of Talking With My Mouth Full "If there's one thing I've learned from the French, it's that good cooking is not an end in itself. Rather, it's the crucial thing that brings the family together for a meal at the end of every day - and nothing's more important than that. Claudine Pepin, Jacques's daughter, was schooled in this lesson from birth. Now she is paying it forward. Simply but clearly written, and vivid with illustrations that recall the "Madeleine" books, "Kids Cook French" is seductive. If anyone can tempt kids away from nuggets and pizza, into the kitchen, and on to the dinner table, it's Claudine." - Sara Moulton of Sara's Weeknight Meals"My dear friends, Claudine and her father Jacques Pépin, have taught America to love French cooking. Now, with this very special book, these two amazing storytellers have shared their passion for family, fun and good food with a new generation of cooks. Claudine's recipes open a window into the flavors of France, and Jacques astonishing drawings will inspire children to be hungry for more!" - Jose Andres, internationally acclaimed chef, author, educator, and owner of ThinkFoodGroup

Lost and Found


Chloë Rayban - 2015
     She is sent over from England to sell the house as quickly as possible. But when she gets there something about the place enchants Julia. For although La Mulatière is decrepit, enormous and unmanageable, it is a house with a hundred stories, and all of them are begging Julia to uncover them. Her father’s legacy turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Julia finds herself falling in love with the house, the villagers – and perhaps even her brooding, surly neighbour, Jacques. Even as she is drawn to Jacques she is warned away from him by those who think they know him better. And unresolved issues with her ex, Oliver, might wreak havoc on her idyllic hideaway… La Mulatière begins to yield its secrets one by one, and Julia pieces together the past even as she tries to fathom her own future. Tales of the house in the Revolution, of its aristocracy flung from riches to abject poverty, and of a mysterious and scandalous noblewoman, all come to light. But the echoes from the past will not be silent in the present, and Julia slowly begins to realise that her prying might have serious consequences for her own future… Is La Mulatière the cure for Julia’s heartbreak...or will the past ruin what might be her last chance of happiness? ‘Lost and Found’ is a beautiful, evocative romance rich with the history of France. Praise for Chloe Rayban: ‘A perfect blend of romance and self-discovery’ - Holy Kinsella, bestselling author of 'Uptown Girl' Chloe Rayban is the bestselling author of 13 books for teenagers, including Wild Child (Random House). She has been shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize twice and the Carnegie Medal. Her books have been translated into many different languages and are sold all over the world. She lives in London and France. 'Lost and Found' is her first adult novel. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

Le French Oven


Hillary Davis - 2015
    Using various techniques such as braising, stewing, roasting, baking, stovetop, and frying, Le French Oven will teach how to create appetizers, soups, main courses, desserts, and more. It includes information about the major French made cocotte brands, and how to use them to create fabulous recipes such as Warm Mushroom Custards with Garlic Toast, French Carrot Rice Soup, Basque-Style Paella, Two-Hands Praying Rack of Lamb Roast, Lemony Braised Chicken with Green Olives, and Beef Pot-au-Feu. The sweet recipes include fabulous fare such as Raspberry Clafoutis and Hot Brandied Peaches Over Ice Cream. Le French Oven fills a need for the coterie of French cookbook fans and lovers of French food. It is an amazing collection of recipes with stunning photography. HILLARY DAVIS, food journalist, cooking instructor, and writer and creator of the popular food blog Marche Dimanche, is a long-time food columnist and restaurant critic for New Hampshire Magazine. Her work has been featured in many national and international magazine and website articles. She is also the author of French Comfort Food and Cuisine Niçoise and has been a food and travel lecturer on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines. She lives in New Hampshire.

Marie-Julie Jahenny: The Breton Stigmatist


Marquis de la Franquerie - 2015
    Sheen). THIS EDITION ALSO INCLUDES clarifying notes within the Marquis’ original text. Marie-Julie, who was known for her admirable obedience to her spiritual directors and her Bishop, received a great number of apparitions of Our Lord, Our Lady, angels, and saints. She was also given prophecies that foretold future events for the universal Church, as well as for the world and, also in particular, the country of France, which has long been called “the first daughter of the Church” since France, under King Clovis of old, was the first country to publicly declare the Catholic Faith as the nation’s religion. In this comprehensive introduction to the life and prophecies of “The Breton Stigmatist,” the reader will discover that Marie-Julie Jahenny foretold the World Wars I and II, the election of Pope St. Pius X, the various persecutions of the Church, the chastisements and the fate of apostate France, the “first daughter of the Church.”Prophecies of two individuals, a future Great Monarch and of a future Pope, were also given to Marie-Julie, but she is not alone in foretelling these two persons. Other saints and mystics have also predicted the coming of a “Great Monarch” (also known as the “Great Catholic Monarch”), as well as an Angelic Pastor (a holy and firm Pope), both whom will cooperate with God’s will during a formidable period of danger for the Church and the entire world.Foretelling a terrible crisis in three parts, three days' darkness (as well as a separate two day period of darkness), spiritual and physical protection is also promised to those truly devoted to Our Lady and the Rosary, St. Joseph, and St. Michael. This work is a helpful addition for those who wish to recognize “the signs of the times.”

The Glow of Paris: The Bridges of Paris at Night


Gary Zuercher - 2015
    And that's exactly what Gary Zuercher gives us in this gorgeous collection of photographs and this fascinating history of the bridges. Over a period of five years, he took his cameras out into the Parisian night to capture stunningly evocative images of the bridges that span the Seine. Using his artistic eye and sophisticated photographic technique, he created these glorious black-and-white photographs, rich with detail and possessing a clear, luminous, quality. This collection is unique, and remarkable. No one else has ever photographed all the bridges that cross the Seine in Paris in this way. We don t see crowds of people, or heavy traffic. Nothing obscures the beauty and strength of the structures, the romance and symbolism of the bridges. Shooting in black and white allows the details to shine: the architectural elements, artwork, nearby buildings, trees on the riverbanks, and starry lamps casting paths of light across the water." Finished with the shooting he spent painstaking hours researching and reporting on the history of the bridges, spanning the period from Julius Caesar to the death of Princess Diana under the Pont d'Alma and up to current day. A fascinating read.

Proust: The Search


Benjamin Taylor - 2015
    The result is a very subtle, thought-provoking book.”—Anka Muhlstein, author of Balzac’s Omelette and Monsieur Proust’s Library   Marcel Proust came into his own as a novelist comparatively late in life, yet only Shakespeare, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky were his equals when it came to creating characters as memorably human. As biographer Benjamin Taylor suggests, Proust was a literary lightweight before writing his multivolume masterwork In Search of Lost Time, but following a series of momentous historical and personal events, he became—against all expectations—one of the greatest writers of his, and indeed any, era.   This insightful, beautifully written biography examines Proust’s artistic struggles—the “search” of the subtitle—and stunning metamorphosis in the context of his times. Taylor provides an in-depth study of the author’s life while exploring how Proust’s personal correspondence and published works were greatly informed by his mother’s Judaism, his homosexuality, and such dramatic events as the Dreyfus Affair and, above all, World War I. As Taylor writes in his prologue, “Proust’s Search is the most encyclopedic of novels, encompassing the essentials of human nature. . . . His account, running from the early years of the Third Republic to the aftermath of World War I, becomes the inclusive story of all lives, a colossal mimesis. To read the entire Search is to find oneself transfigured and victorious at journey’s end, at home in time and in eternity too.”

Maigret: Inspector Maigret #19


Georges Simenon - 2015
    He had just spent one of the most wretched days in his life. For hours, in his corner he had felt old and feeble, without idea or incentive. But now a tiny flame flickered. 'You bet we'll see' he growled.Maigret's peaceful retirement in the countryside is disrupted when a relative unwittingly embroils himself in a crime he did not commit and the inspector returns to Police Headquarters in Paris once again.Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret Returns.'Compelling, remorseless, brilliant' John Gray 'One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories' Guardian'A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness' IndependentGeorges Simenon was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels and short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.

Curtain Calls: A Novel of The Great War


Joe Ponepinto - 2015
    When three American performers travel to Paris in the summer of 1914, they become caught in the passions and politics of a nation on the brink of war. Separated by events, they fall in with factions for and against the conflict, and move ever deeper into a mysterious underground world of political intrigues. Only one man, a statesman and journalist, has the courage to stand up to the corrupt French government and keep the country neutral. When a mad French warmonger plots to kill him, the three Americans—the brooding banjo player Gus, his secretive partner Jack, and the lovestruck singer Kera—represent the only chance to save him from assassination. Based on true events surrounding the genesis of World War I, Curtain Calls captures the turmoil of the times that changed the course of modern history, in a story filled with the lust for power, betrayal, friendship, and love. The world of 1914 Paris comes alive, as the story takes readers into raucous cabarets filled with the city’s most memorable and flamboyant characters. Banjo player Gus Amato and his partner, guitarist Jack Sullivan, known as the Ballo Brothers, are touring in Europe. Kera McGill, a young singer making her first trip overseas, joins them. Kera shows romantic interest in Gus, even though he is almost twice her age. But the brooding musician is more concerned about the threat of conflict, their dwindling finances, and Jack’s frequent disappearances after the shows. France is divided over entering the war. The statesman—the historical figure Jean Jaurès—leads an effort to stop it, as he did successfully in 1912. The three performers become separated, and each is absorbed into the factions at odds over the coming conflict, their perspectives woven into the events of the times. Gus loses everything when the theater closes and their agent abandons them, and winds up playing for pennies in a seedy cabaret that serves as a nexus for the anti-war effort. His partner, Jack, who kept his gay lifestyle a secret until the tour, becomes the sexual prisoner of the psychopath Raoul, who craves the glory of war. Kera is seduced by a member of Jaurès’s inner circle, and becomes part of their efforts to keep France neutral.

Kathleen's Undressed, The Accidental Enigma (The Accidental Series, #2)


Celia Kennedy - 2015
    Kathleen, Hillary, Marian, and Tiziana mingle with celebrities, royalty, and the fashion elite as they critique the next season’s collections.But wait, where is Charlotte? Will Des Bannerman, The King of Romantic Comedies make an appearance? What happened to Ted and Liam? You’ll find out as Kathleen entertains her friends in her beloved City of Lights.What should be a frivolous week of ooh’ing and ah’ing everything from lingerie to lipstick, is about to take a turn. Kathleen has secrets. Dark secrets her friends would be devastated to learn!Against the backdrop of runway shows, the Champs Elysees, the Roman Coliseum, and the Space Needle, twists and turns take place, attempting to draw Kathleen out of the shadows and into the light. This remarkably complex woman, full of hidden surprises, meets her match in Sébastien Langevin, who urges her to reveal all.Will Kathleen continue deceiving her friends at the risk of their friendship -- or reveal the truth at the risk of herself? The true meaning of friendship and love, along with a healthy dose of fashion and laughter, can be found in Kathleen’s Undressed, The Accidental Enigma!

cycling to Bohemia: a cycling adventure across Europe (Eurovelo Series Book 4)


Steven Herrick - 2015
    Accompanied by his wife, Cathie and their two hardy bikes christened Jenny and Craig, this is an absorbing adventure across the heartland of the continent. The only pastime more important than cycling is sampling the culinary delights of French restaurants, German beer halls and the bars and cafes of Belgium, The Netherlands and the Czech Republic - from steak tartare to schnitzel; gateaux to goulash; and beaujolais to beer. The author never loses sight of his life’s mantra, ‘cycling is just an interlude between meals.’‘Cycling to Bohemia’ is a bicycle adventure, a restaurant safari and a handbook for those who enjoy slow food, grassroots travel and long-distance cycling.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Steven Herrick is an Australian poet and author who has published twenty-one books for children and young adults. His books have twice won the NSW Premiers Literary Award (2000, 2005) and have been shortlisted seven times for Book of the Year in the prestigious Children's Book Council of Australia Book Awards. He regularly tours throughout Australia, Asia and Europe performing his work in schools and at festivals.In 2012, he published his first travel book, 'baguettes and bicycles: a cycling adventure across France.' This was followed by 'bordeaux and bicycles: a cycling journey along the canals of France' and 'bratwurst and bicycles: a cycling adventure along the Danube.'He is an avid football (soccer) fan and cyclist who lives in the Blue Mountains with his wife, Cathie. They have two adult sons, Jack and Joe.REVIEWS for 'cycling to Bohemia': 'I read this on my daily commute. A lovely distraction from the glum faces in my train carriage. It made me want to get off at the next station, buy a bicycle and begin my own adventure. A well-written book that entertains and educates in equal measure.' Amazon.com review'Honest, funny and well-researched. Inspirational reading for those of us who want to escape the day-to-day existence of suburbia.' Amazon.com.au review

Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813, Volume 1. The War of Liberation, Spring 1813


Michael V. Leggiere - 2015
    Michael Leggiere reveals how, in the spring of 1813, Prussia, the weakest of the Great Powers, led the struggle against Napoleon as a war of national liberation. Using German, French, British, Russian, Austrian and Swedish sources, he provides a panoramic history which covers the full sweep of the battle for Germany from the mobilization of the belligerents, strategy and operations to coalition warfare, diplomacy and civil-military relations. He shows how Russian war weariness conflicted with Prussian impetuosity, resulting in the crisis that almost ended the Sixth Coalition in early June. In a single campaign, Napoleon drove the Russo-Prussian army from the banks of the Saale to the banks of the Oder. The Russo-Prussian alliance was perilously close to imploding only to be saved at the eleventh-hour by an armistice.

Parisian Promises


Cecilia Velástegui - 2015
    Along with her three friends, Monica soon discovers a Paris not pictured in guidebooks or dreamy black-and-white photographs: a place both seductive and dangerous.The young women, who each dreamed of love at first sight, instead find themselves in a complex tangle of temptation, sex, love, and betrayal. In a city famed for its beauty, the friends soon lose sight of their moral compasses, and discover the seamy side of the Parisian adventure.Monica’s passionate involvement with two men puts her in grave danger. Drawn to Christophe, an idealistic young aristocrat, she’s also completely in the sway of Jean-Michel, a radical South American whose charisma and élan camouflage his despicable modus operandi. Her best friend Lola, who idolizes the life of Parisian courtesan La Belle Otero, seems consumed by sex and frivolity, but may also be Monica’s greatest protector.Monica’s Paris education, both sexual and intellectual, leads her on a perilous journey. Embroiled with ETA terrorists, implicated in a crime, psychologically tortured, and endangering not only herself but everyone she knows and loves. Monica’s decisions impact everyone from her American friends to her elderly landlady, a former French resistance fighter who sees her own sensuous youth reflected in the current-day struggles.Velástegui spins a provocative and mesmerizing tale about the loss of innocence, the allure of desire, the power of both betrayal and redemption, and the danger in romanticizing the most loved and iconic of cities: Paris.

Astounding Mushrooms


Alain Bellocq - 2015
    The close-up images reveal every size of growth, every shade of color, every shadow of silhouette, and every detail of texture. Chapter text sheds light on this unique living species, neither animal nor plant. Concise captions identify the mushrooms and provide further description of their biology.As Astounding Mushrooms reveals, mushrooms are astonishingly diverse. Shapes include buttons, nests, fans, feet, clubs, hooves, trumpets, mesh, tentacles, stars, tubes, and spines. Textures are smooth, shiny or pimpled. They can be dry or wet, edible or deadly. Nuanced colors and blushes include yellows, reds, blues, and greens. They may be speckled, stinky, slimy, hairy, or fuzzy. Some wear a hat, a "skirt", or can even move.Wild mushrooms are enjoyed by an increasing number of locavores, vegans and wild food enthusiasts. Chefs everywhere are foraging wild foods, including mushrooms. Mushroom hunting tours have become popular, and mycolophiles are sharing their enthusiasm and identification tips online.Astounding Mushrooms invites readers into the extraordinary fungi universe.

Pardon My French: How a Grumpy American Fell in Love with France


Allen Johnson - 2015
    To make a friend in another country is a wonderment—a small miracle. Pardon My French follows the lives of an American couple who have embraced a daunting mission: Not to be spectators in France, but to be absorbed by France.Amidst the minefields of linguistic faux pas, the perplexities of French gestures, the exquisite and often exotic cuisine, and the splendor of Christmas on the Mediterranean—see what it is like for an occasionally gruff American to be adopted into a new family. Witness the hugging, the teasing, and the laughter that follows, when nothing on earth could be more perfect. Experience what it is like to fall in love with the French.Follow the adventures of the author as he pits his rather staid and conventional driving skills against the French speed demons of Languedoc. Step into his sneakers as he tests his basketball prowess against the young French bucks adorned with backward ball caps and over-the-knee Chicago Bulls game shorts. Watch how he frolics in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time with a French topless companion. Marvel as he sits in with a world-class French jazz band. Observe him overcome his shyness in talking to the beautiful nude model from his painting class in the studio atop the village police station. Envision how he learns to dance the tango with his head upright, his chest expanded, and his strides befitting a newly adorned French god—one with sensuality on his mind.

Night Wish: A Short Prequel to A Wish Upon Jasmine


Laura Florand - 2015
    But it’s in that darkest hour that you can best wish upon a star…A struggling perfumer. A ruthless moneyman.Two strangers in the dark.And the scent of happiness.Scents are so volatile. But sometimes a hint of them clings long after to the skin…Author’s Note: This short prequel (about 30 pages) to A Wish Upon Jasmine was written as a gift for readers who loved Jess and Damien. The prequel started as a short story (“Be Careful What You Wish For”) which we originally made available on my website and through my newsletter, so if you subscribe to that you may have seen it. But I ended up continuing it, and it grew so long that we wanted to make an ebook available for ease of reading. In my own concept of the narrative arc, I recommend readers start with A Wish Upon Jasmine and return to this prequel if they love the characters and want more of them. But chronologically it occurs before A Wish Upon Jasmine, so of course you must make your own decisions! Happy reading, in any case.Other Books in the Vie en Roses series:Turning Up the Heat, a prequel novella (Daniel and Léa’s story)The Chocolate Rose, a prequel novel (Gabriel and Jolie’s story)Once Upon a Rose, Book 1 (Matt and Layla’s story)A Wish Upon Jasmine, Book 2 (Damien and Jess’s story)Tristan and Lucien’s stories coming up!

Rock Queen : Major Ascents from the World Famous French Climber


Catherine Destivelle - 2015
    In 1990 she made a series of incredible climbs, including solo winter ascents of the three most legendary Alpine walls – the Eiger, the Grandes Jorasses and the Matterhorn – making her the outstanding female climber of all time.

Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Art Market


Sylvie Patry - 2015
    This book explores how Durand-Ruel discovered, exhibited, and shaped an audience for Impressionist paintings at a time when they were not yet appreciated.   Durand-Ruel first encountered key Impressionist painters in the early 1870s and guided many of their careers for decades. A passionate advocate of the Impressionists, he established personal ties with these artists and developed new markets for them by opening branches of his Paris gallery in London, Brussels, and New York. Featuring essays by leading scholars, this handsome volume provides a biography of the man and the trajectory of his career. It also examines his relationships with artists and buyers and his groundbreaking business practices, such as embracing the idea of the solo show, publishing art reviews, and paying artists stipends—often at great financial risk and personal cost to himself. Illustrated with archival documents, historic photographs, and paintings by artists such as Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, among others, this major contribution to the study of art and commerce transforms our understanding of the development of Impressionism.

Everyone Has Their Reasons


Joseph Matthews - 2015
    On November 7, 1938, a small, slight 17-year-old Polish-German Jew named Herschel Grynszpan entered the German embassy in Paris and shot dead a consular official. Three days later, in supposed response, Jews across Germany were beaten, imprisoned, and killed, their homes, shops, and synagogues smashed and burned—Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Based on the historical record and told through his “letters” from German prisons, this novel begins in 1936, when 15-year-old Herschel flees Germany, and continues through his show trial, in which the Nazis sought to demonstrate through his actions that Jews had provoked the war. But Herschel throws a last-minute wrench in the plans, bringing the Nazi propaganda machine to a grinding halt and provoking Hitler to postpone the trial and personally give an order regarding Herschel’s fate.

Yves Saint Laurent: The Scandal Collection, 1971


Olivier Saillard - 2015
    Inspired by the garments of the war years, the collection included short dresses, platform shoes, square shoulders, and exaggerated makeup. The show caused an outrage among the public, the critics, and the press alike, earning it the title of “Paris’s ugliest collection.” Nevertheless, the haute couture designs of the runway made their way to the boulevards, giving full sway to the “retro” trend that quickly conquered the streets.Yves Saint Laurent: The Scandal Collection, 1971 offers a behind-the-scenes look at the influential collection that “drew fire in the fashion world”—from the collection’s inspiration to the press coverage that followed. Beautifully illustrated and documented with well-researched essays, this book is enriched with personal interviews and archival photographs of the show, the models, the designs, and the textile and print samples, as well as sketches and international press clippings.

Pierre Bonnard: Painting Arcadia


Guy Cogeval - 2015
    Pierre Bonnard is often considered a painter of idyllic scenes, replete with color and serenity, however, this view overlooks many of the most striking aspects of Bonnard's oeuvre. Over the course of his career, Bonnard worked within--often expanding and challenging--many genres and techniques. Alternating between the traditions of Impressionism and the abstract visual modes of modernism, Bonnard addressed elements present within many movements in order to synthesize a world worthy of his utopian vision. As this exquisitely produced volume reveals, Bonnard's work evolved radically over the course of his career. Included in its pages are illustrations of well-known examples alongside rarely exhibited pieces, which represent the many thematic and stylistic compositions of Bonnard's work. The book features the murals and tapestries he created with the Nabis; his lush interiors and depictions of his wife, Marthe; his extraordinary use of rich color, brush strokes, and perspective; and his contemplative portraits. Interwoven throughout these dazzling reproductions are illuminating texts by acclaimed critics who draw on the latest research to present a multi-dimensional account of the artist. Readers of this gorgeous, authoritative book can look forward to a visual and intellectual treat in which Bonnard's status is elevated from a forerunner of modernism to one of the greatest painters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Luke Nguyen's France: A Gastromonic Adventure


Luke Nguyen - 2015
    Along the way, he catches up with long-distance relatives and meets locals who (if he’s lucky) disclose decades-old secret family recipes. In return, Luke shares his knowledge of Vietnamese cooking and adds his own unique flourishes to some of these classic dishes. Filled with beautiful food and landscape photography, Luke Nguyen’s France is the ultimate companion to French cuisine and beyond.Luke Nguyen is one of Australia’s best loved chefs. He is the owner of Sydney’s acclaimed Red Lantern restaurants, and is a regular presenter on SBS where his television shows have taken him all over the world. His recent series, Luke Nguyen’s France, is the companion TV show to this book.Luke is also the author of five previous cookbooks: Secrets of the Red Lantern, Indochine, The Songs of Sapa, China to Vietnam and The Food of Vietnam, the ultimate companion to authentic Vietnamese cooking. Luke currently splits his time between Australia and Vietnam, where he has recently opened his own cooking school – Grain – in Ho Chi Minh City.

Delacroix


Simon Lee - 2015
    Written in a lively and accessible style, and incorporating the latest scholarship on the artist, Lee provides fresh analyses into the life and times of Delacroix and uncovers the creative process behind his most famous works.

A Day at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte


Alexandre de Vogüé - 2015
    Vaux le Vicomte’s rich history began in 1641, when infamous finance minister Nicolas Fouquet bought the estate and enlisted architect Louis Le Vau, decorator Charles Le Brun, and garden designer André Le Nôtre to transform it into a lavish residence. His extravagance piqued Louis XIV’s jealousy, and he was thrown into prison for mishandling funds. The château inspired the design of Versailles and was later home to the great chef Vatel, who famously died for his art. This volume traces the château’s history from the seventeenth century through the Belle Époque, World War I, and its public opening in 1968. Exclusive photography and archival documents offer unprecedented access to the château, furnishings, and gardens, and illuminate the extraordinary secrets of court life and centuries of celebrations that include the enchanting candlelit tours held today.

Paris Spleen and Wine and Hashish


Charles Baudelaire - 2015
    This volume also includes Baudelaire’s 1851 essay ‘Wine and Hashish’.

Voices of the Paris Commune


Mitchell Abidor - 2015
    All of the interpretations are tendentious. Historians view the working class’s three-month rule through their own prism, distant in time and space. Voices of the Paris Commune takes a different tack. In this book only those who were present in the spring of 1871, who lived through and participated in the Commune, are heard. The Paris Commune had a vibrant press, and it is represented here by its most important newspaper, Le Cri du Peuple, edited by Jules Vallès, member of the First International. Like any legitimate government, the Paris Commune held parliamentary sessions and issued daily printed reports of the heated, contentious deliberations that belie any accusation of dictatorship. Included in this collection is the transcript of the debate in the Commune and a selection from the inquiry carried out 20 years after the event by the intellectual review La Revue Blanche.

Paris in 3D in the Belle Époque: A Book Plus Steroeoscopic Viewer and 34 3D Photos


Bruno Fuligni - 2015
     Paris during the Belle Époque (1880-1914) was a time when peace and prosperity allowed for towering innovation in art, fashion, architecture, and gastronomy. The city at this time was the epicenter of art and music. Fauré, Saint Saëns, Debussy, and Ravel were composing; Rodin was working on The Thinker; Renoir, Monet, Cézanne, Pissarro, and Degas painted scenes depicting everyday life; and Pablo Picasso embarked on his Blue Period. As Art Nouveau came into fashion, new buildings followed suit. Opéra Garnier, Castel Beranger, Moulin Rouge, and the Paris Metro entrances were all built during this time. Galeries Lafayette unveiled its gilded department store, which sold couture to the aspiring middle class. This burgeoning creativity and prosperity, as well as the city and the inhabitants who embraced it, are all captured here, with stunning clarity and realism. Paris in 3D's innovative and inimitable package includes a sturdy metal stereoscopic viewer, 34 rarely seen stereoscopic photographs of the city at the turn of the century, and an accompanying 128-page paperback, which provides a brief history of the stereograph craze and an overview of the city's evolution during that time.

Teatime in Paris: A Walk Through Easy French Patisserie Recipes


Jill Colonna - 2015
    With 50 typical teatime recipes, and over 250 photographs, enjoy tips, stories and a walks section that shows where to taste many of the best pastries in Paris.

Wellington's Hidden Heroes: The Dutch and the Belgians at Waterloo


Veronica Baker-Smith - 2015
    . . I was never so near being beat.” The courage of British troops that day has been rightly praised ever since, but the fact that one-third of the forces which gave him his narrow victory were subjects, not of George III but of the King of the Netherlands has been almost completely ignored. This book seeks to correct a grave injustice through the study of Dutch sources, the majority of which have never been used by English-speaking historians.The Dutch-Belgians have been variously described as inexperienced, incompetent and cowardly, a rogue element in the otherwise disciplined Allied Army. It is only now being tentatively acknowledged that they alone saved Wellington from disaster at Quatre Bras. He had committed a strategic error in that, as Napoleon advanced, his own troops were scattered over a hundred kilometers of southern Belgium. Outnumbered three to one, the Netherlanders gave him time to concentrate his forces and save Brussels from French occupation. At Waterloo itself, on at least three occasions when the fate of the battle “hung upon the cusp,” their engagement with the enemy aided British recovery. Their commander—the Prince of Orange—has been viciously described as an arrogant fool, “a disaster waiting to happen” and even a dangerous lunatic. According to the assessment of Wellington himself, he was a reliable and courageous subordinate.This book reveals a new dimension of the famous campaign, and includes many unseen illustrations. For the first time, a full assessment is made of the challenge which Willem I faced as king of a country hastily cobbled together by the Congress of Vienna, and of his achievement in assembling, equipping and training 30,000 men from scratch in 18 months. During this 200th anniversary year of the Battle of Waterloo, the veneration which the Duke of Wellington justifiably enjoyed after the campaign should not be allowed to overshadow his lifelong lack of recognition of the debt he owed the Netherlanders. As he once said himself, “there should be glory enough for all,” and in these pages some of his most vital allies are finally allowed to claim their share.

Uncensored France: An Eyewitness Account of France Under the German Occupation


Roy Porter - 2015
    The book, covering the author's time in occupied France between June 1940 to November 1941, is a well-written report of daily life in Paris and the provinces, and includes interviews with French citizens, political leaders such as Pierre Laval and Marshal Pétain, and German military officials. Porter provides insight into everyday life in France, including the growth of the black-market to obtain food and gasoline, Paris' nightlife, travel, and roundups by the military of civilians. Porter also describes the initial take-over of France by the German army, and describes a visit to the quickly bypassed Maginot Line on France's eastern border.

The 500 Hidden Secrets of Paris


Marie Farman - 2015
    Written by a true local, the book includes lists such as the 5 best vintage markets, the 5 best workplaces for freelancers and the 5 best concert venues. It features 500 addresses and facts that few people know, such as a restaurant where you can order a French meal until 3:30 in the morning, a small stationer's where the daylight streams in gloriously and you can find the most beautiful Japanese paper creations, or a little shop where gifts like embroidered serviettes are made to order.

A Rainbow Division Lieutenant in France: The World War I Diary of John H. Taber


John H. Taber - 2015
    His diary provides a detailed narrative of a young officer maturing through his war experiences, from the voyage across the submarine filled Atlantic, to training in France, to front line combat. In a clear, unaffected voice, Taber records his dealings with superiors and enlisted men, billets in French and German towns, life in the trenches, intense shelling, machine gun fire, gas warfare, leaves to Paris, the occupation of Germany, and his return to New York.

Photography and the Art of Chance


Robin Kelsey - 2015
    Anyone who has wielded a camera has taken a picture ruined by an ill-timed blink or enhanced by an unexpected gesture or expression. Although this proneness to chance may amuse the casual photographer, Robin Kelsey points out that historically it has been a mixed blessing for those seeking to make photographic art. On the one hand, it has weakened the bond between maker and picture, calling into question what a photograph can be said to say. On the other hand, it has given photography an extraordinary capacity to represent the unpredictable dynamism of modern life. By delving into these matters, Photography and the Art of Chance transforms our understanding of photography and the work of some of its most brilliant practitioners.The effort to make photographic art has involved a call and response across generations. From the introduction of photography in 1839 to the end of the analog era, practitioners such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Frederick Sommer, and John Baldessari built upon and critiqued one another's work in their struggle to reconcile aesthetic aspiration and mechanical process. The root problem was the technology's indifference, its insistence on giving a bucket the same attention as a bishop and capturing whatever wandered before the lens. Could such an automatic mechanism accommodate imagination? Could it make art? Photography and the Art of Chance reveals how daring innovators expanded the aesthetic limits of photography to create art for a modern world.

Curious Histories of Nice, France


Margo Lestz - 2015
    In it you will: • Meet Nice's unlikely heroine • Follow the city's path to becoming French • Find out why Queen Victoria travelled with a donkey • Learn about traditions at the heart of Niçois culture • Discover dastardly crimes… And much more...This book is not a guide to Nice in the traditional sense. I won’t be mapping out tour routes or recommending restaurants. Others can do that much better than I can.What I will be doing is entertaining you with stories about the people and events from Nice’s past that have helped to form the city’s character. These stories are meant to be entertaining as well as informative and to help you better understand the city that I happily call my adopted home. This book is divided into four parts: Before France, Trail of Tourism, Disaster and Dastardly Deeds, and Taste of Tradition. In each part, you’ll find an overview or comment on the subject, followed by several related short stories. Most stories have “What to See” and “Fun Facts” sections at the end with additional information.

France, a Nation on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown


Jonathan Miller - 2015
    the French will complain.' Andrew Neil'The French are savvy, sophisticated, elegant - Right? Wrong! The French:…* lecture the world about haute cuisine yet they eat more McDonald's hamburgers than anywhere else in the world; * roll their eyes at foreign culture even as I is their most watched TV programme; * pretend to be literary even as Fifty Shades of Gray is France’s best-selling book, ever. In 2000, Jonathan Miller moved to France. Soon he discovered the hilarious truth. The French live in a feverish state of fantasy. People are paid to pretend to work, pretend to strike, and generally think work causes depression and suicide. Dental hygienists are illegal, yet the French exchange a staggering 184 billion kisses every year. While preaching liberté, the State forbids everything, is run by one school’s alumni, messes up over two thirds of the economy. It goes on....Meet the real French, and laugh!

The Road to War: A Travel Guide for Exploring the Battlefields of Europe (Volume I, France)


John Dunlavey - 2015
    Volume I is focused on France which includes over 60 color maps, 600 plus places to visit with geo coordinates and dozens of photos. Each chapter contains a detailed summary of battles, tactics and most importantly places to see. The places to see have descriptions and geo-coordinates for the traveler to use in their planning. Finally, each battle has an associated map and photos highlighting where the battle took place to include formations and angles of attacks.

Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock


Nino Gugunishvili - 2015
    She's never tried yoga. She doesn't even have a driver's license. She lives a pretty ordinary life as a freelance writer who battles the occasional flow of melancholy with the regular flow of martinis. Nestled into her couch, her television remote in one hand and a cold adult beverage in the other, she's found a favorite way to pass the hours on a Friday evening. It's comfortable and familiar, but it's not exactly an exciting way to live. With two of her closest friends, a bossy mother, an eighty-two-year-old grandmother, and Griffin, her fat yellow Labrador at her side, she knows that there has to be something better out there.But where?When she gets an unexpected offer to relocate to France to write a magazine column, she thinks her circumstances are improving. But life in a new country isn't all pêches et la crème. Now far away from her comfort zone, Tasha must find the inner strength to start a new career and navigate the bizarre and unknown world of professional jealousy, intrigue, and conflicting personalities in a very foreign land.It's enough to make a girl yearn for those quiet nights on the couch.

The Night Watchman


Jean-Baptiste Labrune - 2015
    After curfew, a strange character with a lamp --the Night Watchman --patrols the winding streets and alleyways, assisted by birds on the rooftops, dogs in the lanes, and rats underground. As both guardian and policeman, the Night Watchman will relentlessly hunt down any intruder who threatens the peace and security of his city. Nothing and no one has disturbed his nightly routine --until now.A beautifully written story full of suspense, The Night Watchman tells a fascinating tale of surveillance, betrayal, friendship, and love. Jeremie Fischer's remarkable images elevate the book to an artful illustrated novel, and Jean-Baptiste Labrune's words render it a modern classic with a narrative relatable on many levels.

Fighting for Napoleon: French soldiers' letters, 1799-1815


Bernard Wilkin - 2015
    It is rarely seen from the perspective of the lowest ranks of the army, and the experience of the ordinary soldiers is less well known and is often misunderstood. That is why this account, based on more than 1,600 letters written by French soldiers of the Napoleonic armies, is of such value. It adds to the existing literature by exploring every aspect of the life of a French soldier during the period 1799-1815. The book will be fascinating and informative reading for military and cultural historians, but it will also appeal to anyone who is interested in the war experience of common soldiers. It offers the English-speaking audience a French view of a conflict which is too often limited to the traditional memoirs of Captain Coignet, Colonel Marbot or Sergeant Bourgogne.

French Short Stories For Beginners: 8 Unconventional Short Stories to Grow Your Vocabulary and Learn French the Fun Way!


Olly Richards - 2015
    Instead of pausing to look up every word, you’ll absorb new vocabulary from the context of the story, and have the satisfaction of that moment when you say: “I totally understood that sentence!” Carefully written French, using straightforward grammar that is comprehensible for beginner and intermediate level learners, so that you can enjoy reading and learn new grammatical structures without the feeling of overwhelm and frustration that you get from other books. Plenty of natural dialogues in each story, so that you can learn conversational French whilst you read, and improve your speaking ability at the same time! Regular plot summaries, comprehension questions and word reference lists, so that help is always on hand when you need it. You’ll be able to focus on enjoying reading and having fun, rather than fumbling around with dictionaries and struggling through dense text with no support. A five-step plan for reading the stories in this book the smart way. This detailed introductory chapter gives you specific, step-by-step instructions for effective reading in French, so that you know exactly how to make the most out of the book and maximise your learning! French Short Stories for Beginners has been written especially for students from beginner to intermediate level (A1-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference). The eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading. You’ll finally be able to enjoy reading in French, grow your vocabulary in a natural way, and improve your comprehension at the same time. Based on extensive research into how people most enjoy and benefit from reading in a new language, this book eliminates all the frustrations you have experienced when trying to read in French: Dull topics that are no fun to read Books so long you never reach the end Endless chapters that make you want to give up Impenetrable grammar that frustrates you at every turn Complex vocabulary that leaves you with your head buried in the dictionary Instead, you can just concentrate on what you came for in the first place - enjoying reading and having fun! If you’re learning French and enjoy reading, this is the book you need to rekindle your passion for the language and take your French to the next level! So what are you waiting for? Scroll up and grab your copy now!

The News From Waterloo: The race to tell Britain of Wellington's Victory


Brian Cathcart - 2015
    Probably the most momentous news to reach London in the whole of the 19th century, it took three days to make a 230-mile journey and those days were packed with haste, confusion and drama. What is more, the years since then have seen these events shrouded in mystery and malicious propaganda – the Nazis even made a film on the subject.Award-winning author Brian Cathcart (The Fly in the Cathedral, The Case of Stephen Lawrence) reconstructs what happened with the help of memoirs, forgotten documents and the newspapers of the time. In the words of the great editor Sir Harold Evans: 'Cathcart's vastly entertaining narrative marries the scepticism of an investigative journalist with a dramatist's gift for suspense . . . How dull by comparison are our smug digital days where news comes – and goes – at the speed of light.'The Daily Telegraph gives The News From Waterloo five stars: 'Thrilling . . . fascinating . . . vivid . . . entertaining.'

The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution


David Andress - 2015
    Each chapter presents the foremost summations of academic thinking on key topics, along with stimulating and provocative interpretations and suggestions for future research directions. Placing core dimensions of the history of the French Revolution in their transnational and global contexts, the contributors demonstrate that revolutionary times demand close analysis of sometimes tiny groups of key political actors - whether the king and his ministers or the besieged leaders of the Jacobin republic - and attention to the deeply local politics of both rural and urban populations. Identities of class, gender and ethnicity are interrogated, but so too are conceptions and practices linked to citizenship, community, order, security, and freedom: each in their way just as central to revolutionary experiences, and equally amenable to critical analysis and reflection.This Handbook covers the structural and political contexts that build up to give new views on the classic question of the 'origins of revolution'; the different dimensions of personal and social experience that illuminate the political moment of 1789 itself; the goals and dilemmas of the period of constitutional monarchy; the processes of destabilisation and ongoing conflict that ended that experiment; the key issues surrounding the emergence and experience of 'terror'; and the short- and long-term legacies, for both good and ill, of the revolutionary trauma - for France, and for global politics.

Paris Kiss


Maggie Ritchie - 2015
    Exotic, strange and exciting, especially to young English sculptor Jessie Lipscomb, who joins her friend Camille to become a protégée of the great Auguste Rodin. Jessie and Camille enjoy a passionate friendship and explore the demi-monde of the vibrant city, meeting artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and the boldly unconventional Rosa Bonheur. But when Rodin and Camille embark on a scandalous affair, Jessie is cast as their unwilling go-between and their friendship unravels. Years later she tracks her down to an insane asylum where Camille tells her an explosive secret. Can their friendship survive the betrayal?

Lonely Planet Provence & Southeast France Road Trips (Travel Guide)


Lonely Planet - 2015
    Featuring four amazing road trips, plus up-to-date advice on the destinations you'll visit along the way, explore the Mediterranean south's shimmering coast and rustic heart with your trusted travel companion. Get to France, rent a car, and hit the road! Inside Lonely Planet Provence & Southeast France Road Trips : Lavish colour and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests Get around easily - easy-to-read, full-colour route maps, detailed directions Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Detours, Walking Tours and Link Your Trip Covers Nîmes, Nice, Provence, French Riviera and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Provence & Southeast France Road Trips is perfect for exploring Provence and Southeast France via the road and discovering sights that are more accessible by car. Planning a Provence trip sans a car? Lonely Planet Provence & the Cote d'Azur, our most comprehensive guide to Provence, is perfect for exploring both top sights and lesser-known gems. Looking for more extensive coverage? Lonely Planet France's Best Trips covers road trip itineraries for the whole country, Lonely Planet France, our most comprehensive guide to France, is perfect for exploring both top sights and lesser-known gems, or check out Discover France, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions. Also looking for a guide focused on Paris? Check out Lonely Planet Paris for a comprehensive look at all the city has to offer, or Pocket Paris, a handy-sized guide focused on the can't-miss sights for a quick trip. There's More in Store for You: See more of Europe's picturesque country sides and have a richer, more authentic experience by exploring Europe by car with Lonely Planet'sRoad Trips guides to Châteaux of the Loire Valley and Normandy & D-Day Beaches or Lonely Planet's Best Trips guides to France,

The Chatelaine of Montaillou


Susan E Kaberry - 2015
    When she is married at sixteen, Beatrice becomes the Chatelaine of Montaillou where a revival of the Cathar heresy is gathering momentum. Widowed at a young age, Beatrice has an affair with the village priest, Pierre Clergue, and she is drawn into the subterfuge and intrigue surrounding the heresy. The curse of the yellow crosses, her father's punishment for his Cathar beliefs seems to be following her, but she escapes the dangerous hot-bed of heresy that Montaillou has become by marrying again and moving to the lowlands. In 1317, a new Bishop Inquisitor, Jacques Fournier is appointed to seek out and destroy the Cathars and their supporters. His systematic and rigorous approach terrifies all who encounter him. Beatrice is summoned for questioning by him and the book starts as she walks towards this first interrogation. She is retained as a prisoner in the Bishopric in filthy and degrading conditions, with the threat of torture hanging over her for nine months. She is interrogated on eight separate occasions. Her remarkable life story and the fate of the last Cathars are revealed as the story moves towards its final, tragic denouement.

Horizontal Collaboration: The Erotic World of Paris, 1920-1946


Mel Gordon - 2015
    It concludes with the shuttering of the licensed brothels in 1946, which some Parisian intellectuals thought was the final "destruction of French civilization".The term "Horizontal Collaboration" refers to the sexual liaisons between French civilians and German occupiers from 1940 to 1944. These were extremely widespread and included both individual wartime relationships in addition to prostitution. As Allied armies swept across the French countryside, thousands of young women—and some men—were savagely punished by the authorities or by vigilante crowds, becoming a source of deep national shame.Author Gordon redefines the pejorative term to mean something much broader: French men and women "horizontally collaborated" to overcome all social obstacles, divisions, and regulations. These obstacles include married and unmarried couples, straights and homosexuals, foreigners and locals, gun-toting soldiers and their vanquished subjects. The natural yearning for sexual pleasure equally corrupted all cohabitating partners.This book rediscovers a remarkable time when the aesthetic and erotic capitol of Europe experienced remarkable heights and shameful lows. . . . Hundreds of images, most never before seen in a book, encompass this fascinating but little-known history.

Avoiding Sex with Frenchmen


Shoshanah Lee Marohn - 2015
    unless you're a woman who has been to Paris alone, and then maybe you've seen it. Pure as newly driven snow, three teenaged girls arrive in Paris, with little money and a large passion for art (especially art where lots of people die gruesome and terrible deaths). Immediately, they are constantly propositioned by men. Everywhere. Anything they do, men ask to have sex with them. They don't say hello or how are you, they just ask to have sex with them. Why do the French men like them so much? What is wrong with these people who won't let you walk ten feet without asking to have sex with you? Will the three of them even survive the trip? Sketch drawings of every Frenchman who approached them complete the hysterical telling of this ill-fated tale.

France 1968: Month of Revolution: Lessons of the General Strike


Clare Doyle - 2015
    Within days, 10 million French workers were on strike. Factories occupied, red flags flown and the Internationale heard in the streets of Paris. Even the armed forces were infected by the revolutionary mood. The future of French capitalism hung in the balance. Worker and student action committees constantly discussed what should happen next, yet within weeks the strikes were over and 'order' was restored.Clare Doyle's Month of Revolution (first published in May 1988), looks at what caused this mighty explosion of workers' and students' anger and why it did not succeed in overturning capitalism. She argues that the French working class had power in its hands. With a far-sighted, revolutionary leadership, capitalism could have been abolished, and a truly representative socialist government brought to power. World history could have taken a very different course.In a new introduction, the author alos looks at the post-68 class struggles in France and internationally. As anger against capitalism and imperialism grows today, and as a new generation of workers and young people search for an alternative, the events described in Month of Revolution serve as a timely inspiration - a reminder of how a socialist revolution could unfold, in the heart of Europe or in any other country of the globe.

When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940


Robin Prior - 2015
    But in 1940 Great Britain’s defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the time—war diaries, combat reports, Home Security’s daily files, and much more—to uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.   The book reassesses key events of 1940—crises that were recognized as such at the time and others not fully appreciated. Prior examines Neville Chamberlain’s government, Churchill’s opponents, the collapse of France, the Battle of Britain, and the Blitz. He looks critically at the position of the United States before Pearl Harbor, and at Roosevelt’s response to the crisis. Prior concludes that the nation was saved through a combination of political leadership, British Expeditionary Force determination and skill, Royal Air Force and Navy efforts to return soldiers to the homeland, and the determination of the people to fight on “in spite of all terror.” As eloquent as it is controversial, this book exposes the full import of events in 1940, when Britain fought alone and Western civilization hung in the balance.

Simone Weil: Late Philosophical Writings


Simone Weil - 2015
    Yet those coming to her work from such disciplines as sociology, history, political science, religious studies, French studies, and women’s studies are often ignorant of or baffled by her philosophical investigations. In Simone Weil: Late Philosophical Writings, Eric O. Springsted presents a unique collection of Weil’s writings, one concentrating on her explicitly philosophical thinking.   The essays are drawn chiefly from the time Weil spent in Marseille in 1940-42, as well as one written from London; most have been out of print for some time; three appear for the first time; all are newly translated. Beyond making important texts available, this selection provides the context for understanding Weil's thought as a whole. This volume is important not only for those with a general interest in Weil; it also specifically presents Weil as a philosopher, chiefly one interested in questions of the nature of value, moral thought, and the relation of faith and reason. What also appears through this judicious selection is an important confirmation that on many issues respecting the nature of philosophy, Weil, Wittgenstein, and Kierkegaard shared a great deal.

The French War on Al Qa'ida in Africa


Christopher S. Chivvis - 2015
    French special forces, warplanes, and army units struck with rapid and unexpected force. Their intervention quickly repelled the jihadist advance and soon the terrorists had been chased from their safe haven in Mali's desolate North - an impressive accomplishment. Although there have been many books on the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are almost none on the recent military interventions of America's allies. Because it was quick, effective, and relatively low cost, the story contains valuable lessons for future strategy. Based on exclusive interviews with high-level civilian and military officials in Paris, Washington and Bamako, this book offers a fast-paced, concise, strategic overview of this war. As terrorist groups proliferate across North Africa, what France accomplished in Mali should be a key reference point for national security experts.

The Edge of the Nest: The Solitude of Ivan Turgenev


Christopher Cruise - 2015
    This fictional biography, solidly founded on historical and literary research, explores his life and work - from his childhood, dominated by his tyrannical mother, to his last years, in the tender care of Pauline Viardot, the Franco-Spanish diva who was the love of his life. Author Christopher Cruise offers insights into other affairs and flirtations, together with his ambivalent relationship with his illegitimate daughter Paulinette, the result of a half-hour liaison with a servant girl. The reader is transported to many parts of Europe, from the revolutionary streets of St Petersburg to the cultural salons of Paris. The intense generational clash of his era inspired his best-known work, Fathers and Children, while his mother's cruelty ignited in him a lifelong horror of violence and injustice which found expression in A Sportsman's Sketches, a book that contributed to Czar Alexander II's decision to emancipate the serfs. The influence of the radical critic Belinsky transformed Turgenev from a 'superfluous man' on the fringes of society, to a probing writer and thinker. His relationships with some of his fellow Russian writers - Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Herzen and Bakunin - were often stormy, but in France he was admired and esteemed by many members of the French literary and musical worlds, including Flaubert, George Sand and Zola. Considered by his peers as a traitor to his class and by the radical left as a woolly liberal, by the end of his life he had won the respect - and even love - of the majority of young Russians seeking a democratic future for their tormented country.

Charlemagne's Practice of Empire


Jennifer R. Davis - 2015
    Davis explores how Charlemagne overcame the two main problems of ruling an empire, namely how to delegate authority and how to manage diversity. Through a meticulous reconstruction based on primary sources, she demonstrates that rather than imposing a pre-existing model of empire onto conquered regions, Charlemagne and his men learned from them, developing a practice of empire that allowed the emperor to rule on a European scale. As a result, Charlemagne's realm was more flexible and diverse than has long been believed.Telling the story of Charlemagne's rule using sources produced during the reign itself, Davis offers a new interpretation of Charlemagne's political practice, free from the distortions of later legend.

French Kissing


Lynne Shelby - 2015
    But when Alex, now a successful photographer, has the opportunity to work in London, Anna offers him a place to stay but is astounded that the small, geeky boy she remembers is now tall, broad-shouldered and gorgeous, and has just broken up with his long-term girlfriend.Anna’s female friends are soon swooning over Alex’s Gallic charm, and Anna’s boyfriend Nick is becoming extremely jealous of their friendship. Then Alex has to return to Paris to oversee the hanging of his photographs in an exhibition, and invites Anna to accompany him so that he can show her the city he adores...

Lucie Aubrac: The French Resistance Heroine Who Outwitted the Gestapo


Siân Rees - 2015
    As a founding member and leader of the important French Resistance group Liberation-Sud, Lucie served as a courier, arms carrier, and saboteur who engineered these and other escape plans on behalf of her husband and other Resistance fighters.Spirited out of France with Raymond by the RAF, Lucie arrived in London a heroine. For the postwar generation the couple embodied the spirit of "the real France": the one that resisted, and eventually expelled the Nazis. However, in 1983, Kalus Barbie made the bombshell claim that the Aubracs had become informers in 1943, betraying their comrades. The French press and the couple themselves furiously denounced this as slander, but as worrying inconsistencies were spotted in Lucie's story, doubts emerged that have never quite gone away. Who was Lucie Aubrac? What did she really do in 1943? And was she truly the spirit of la vraie France, or a woman who could not resist casting herself as a heroine? Siân Rees’s penetrating, even-handed account draws from letters, newspaper articles, and other archival materials, as well as several interviews, to decipher the truth behind Lucie and her husband's wartime endeavors and near fall from grace. It offers a thrilling portrait of a brave, resourceful woman who went to extraordinary lengths for love and country.

French Riviera and Its Artists: Art, Literature, Love, and Life on the Côte d'Azur


John Baxter - 2015
    Readers will discover the dramatic lives of the legendary artists, writers, actors, and politicians who frequented the world’s most luxurious resort during its golden age. In 25 vivid chapters, Baxter introduces the iconic figures indelibly linked to the South of France—artist Henri Matisse, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel, and many more. Along the way, Baxter takes readers where few people ever get to go: the alluring world of the perfume industry, into the cars and casinos of Monte Carlo, behind-the-scenes at the Cannes Film Festival, to the villa where Picasso and Cocteau smoked opium, and to the hotel where Joseph Kennedy had an affair with Marlene Dietrich. These luminaries celebrated life and created art amid paradise and this book is the ultimate guide to the Riviera’s golden age.

The Brood of False Lorraine: The history of the Ducs de Guise (1496-1588), subsequently taken to the year 1671, complete in 1 volume


Hugh Noel Williams - 2015
     The story of this family gives an intimate insight into the reigns of François I, Henri II, Henri's sons François II (husband of Mary Queen of Scots), Charles IX and Henri III, and to a lesser extent that of Henri IV.  Along the way are detailed accounts of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre, of the horrors of the French Wars of Religion, of assassinations, murder and revenge, of plots with England, Spain and Rome. It's a story of courage and cowardice, of greed and arrogance. It overlaps with and continues the same author's "Henri II: His Court and Times", which is also available for Kindle.  This Kindle edition contains both volumes of "Brood of False Lorraine", including the combined index (fully linked to the pages referenced). It has been manually formatted and thoroughly proofread.Other books you may enjoy:— "Henri II, his Court and Times" [ASIN: B00SN70HE6]— "The Life and Times of Francis I, King of France", [ASIN: B017KTETTG]— "The Girlhood of Mary Queen of Scots," covering Mary's life in France when she was to a large extent under the guardianship of her Guise relations. [ASIN: B011P7M7NE]— "Coligny, the earlier life of the great Huguenot." Coligny fought alongside the Guises in his early days, but opposed them after his conversion, in the wars of religion. [ASIN: B016APS1BS]The book contains a number of portraits of the main characters. You can see many more on my Pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/kindleifier/.

The Question of Power: An interview with Pierre Clastres


Pierre Clastres - 2015
    L'Anti-Mythes also published this long interview with Pierre Clastres, which has become a reference over the years. Simple in its exposition, uncompromising on the content, The Question of Power is a crucial introduction to the ethnologist's thinking.

Embezzlement and High Treason Louis XIV's France: The Trial of Nicolas Fouquet


Vincent J. Pitts - 2015
    Prosecuted on trumped-up charges of embezzlement, mismanagement of funds, and high treason, Fouquet managed to exonerate himself from all of the major charges over the course of three long years, in the process embarrassing and infuriating Louis XIV. The young king overturned the court’s decision and sentenced Fouquet to lifelong imprisonment in a remote fortress in the Alps.A dramatic critique of absolute monarchy in pre-revolutionary France, Embezzlement and High Treason in Louis XIV's France tells the gripping tale of an overly ambitious man who rose rapidly in the state hierarchy—then overreached. Vincent J. Pitts uses the trial as a lens through which to explore the inner workings of the court of Louis XIV, who rightly feared that Fouquet would expose the tawdry financial dealings of the king's late mentor and prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin.

The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature (Cambridge Introductions to Literature)


Brian Nelson - 2015
    Major writers, including Francophone authors writing from areas other than France, are discussed chronologically in the context of their times, to provide a sense of the development of the French literary tradition and the strengths of some of the most influential writers within it. Nelson offers close readings of exemplary passages from key works, presented in English translation and with the original French. The exploration of the work of important writers, including Villon, Racine, Molière, Voltaire, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Proust, Sartre and Beckett, highlights the richness and diversity of French literature.

Amorous Pursuits: A novel of Catherine, Madame de Talleyrand


Veronica McNiff - 2015
    With rare exceptions, the life a courtesan embarks upon can take turns and provide adventures—and advantages—more gratifying and sometimes more dangerous than anything she could have imagined at the start… as Catherine Noelle Verlee discovered. Born to humble French parents in India in 1762, by a series of incredible events she traveled to France via South Africa, Portugal, London and Paris with her lovers, who were distinguished, generous, and many. In Paris, she survived the French Revolution, and was the best friend of Napoleon’s beloved Josephine. How was it that this infamous beauty achieved her heart’s desire, married Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, scion of a noble house and effectively ruler of France while Napoleon campaigned, and even became a princess? Was it because she knew how to keep a secret?

Defenders of Christendom


James Fitzhenry - 2015
    Demonstrating his gallantry through daring feats or arms, the knight's faith, coupled with his marvelous courage, made him nearly invincible on the field of battle. Built around the stirring chronicle of the Knights of St. John, these inspiring accounts bring to life Catholic heroes who fought with courage, chivalry, and an unwavering trust in God to protect their neighbor, their country, and their faith.

French Slang: Do you speak the real French?: The essentials of French Slang


Frederic Bibard - 2015
    This book will help you sound like an actual human being from the 21st century. Now you can learn and understand everyday French conversations - the kind you can hear spoken by native speakers on the street, in movies and TV, and, more importantly, in real life! Straightforward, no fluff and fillers   French Slang  gets straight to the point, offering you 12 sections of more than 600 words and phrases. No unnecessary fluff included, just straightforward, practical vocabulary that allows you to navigate the most likely scenarios you’ll encounter.   It may be concise, but it’s still comprehensive: Similar books in the market only have 400 – 500 words and expressions, yet generally cost a great deal more. A fun way to expand your vocabulary Learn new expressions and vocabulary that range from wholesome to slightly provocative – and enjoy a few laughs every now and then. Your newfound natural-sounding conversational skills and authentic French are guaranteed to impress your French speaking friends. Never misuse slang ever again The e-book contains annotations beside some words or phrases. You’ll notice a (P) or (O) which will let you know if the term or expression is (P) popular and widely-used or (O) can be considered offensive by some. This will eliminate the risk of offending anybody or committing a social faux pas. (P) is your green light to go ahead and use the term/ expression right away. (O) is a warning to use it sparingly and with caution! Some examples: Ça va? (P) - How are things? How are you doing? Comme ci, comme ça (P)  - So-so Chiant (P) (O) - Boring In the case of “Chiant” (P) (O) it means this is a popular word but also not really appropriate to use. Special bonus It includes a FREE pronunciation guide with MP3! Technical Details:         600+ slang words and expressions         Pronunciation guide with Mp3         New! With Audio now   Download this e-book to start speaking French like a native today!