Nineteenth-century France was one of the world's great cultural beacons, renowned for its dazzling literature, philosophy, art, poetry and technology. Yet this ... » 

Nineteenth-century France was one of the world's great cultural beacons, renowned for its dazzling literature, philosophy, art, poetry and technology. Yet this was also a tumultuous century of political anarchy and bloodshed, where each generation of the French Revolution's 'children' would experience their own wars, revolutions and terrors.From soldiers to priests, from peasants to Communards, from feminists to literary figures such as Victor Hugo and Honorè de Balzac, Robert Gildea's brilliant new history explores every aspect of these rapidly changing times, and the people who lived through them.'Elegantly written ... vivid and constantly enriched by agallery of portraits ... The author's sympatheticunderstanding of the French shines through his prose' -Sudhir Hazareesingh, Literary Review 'An excellent book ... his real achievement lies in diggingbelow the surface to present a tapestry of French life ...the overall sweep and depth of the book is masterly' - Jonathan Fenby, The Times «