The French Mind: 400 Years of Romance, Revolution and Renewal

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Majestic, ambitious'Literary Review
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We are endlessly fascinated bytheFrench. We are fascinated by their way of life, their creativity, sophistication and self-assurance, and even their insistence that they are exceptional. But how did France becomethecountry it is today, and what really sets it apart

Journalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answerthese questions inTheFrenchMind,a dazzling history of France that takes us fromtheseventeenth century tothepresent day throughthenations most influential thinkers.He opensthedoors totheRenaissance salons that were a breeding ground for poets, philosophers and scientists, and tellsthe forgotten stories ofthe extraordinarysuccession of women who ranthese institutions, fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else intheworld.

Its a story that takes us into Bohemian cafes and cabarets, into chic Parisian high culture via French philosophies of food, fashion and sex, while growing unrest hastens the bloody birth of a republic. Fromthe1789revolution tothe countrys occupation by Nazi Germany, Watson argues that a unique series of devastating military defeats helped shape the resilient, proud, innovative character of the French.

Thisis a history of breathtaking ambition, propelled bythecharacters Watson brings to vivid life:thewriters, revolutionaries and painters who loved, inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years. It documentstheshaping of a nationwhose global influence, in art, culture and politics, cannot be overstated.
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An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles, rooted in the Enlightenment and French Revolution, while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity The Times

'An engaging movement through time towards Frances recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire TLS

Reviews

Majestic, ambitious . . . [Peter Watson] deserves admiration for the grace and agility with which he interlinks the development of a vigorous cultural identity and the seismic shifts of French national history, continually lurching between triumph and disaster. Impressive enough in its scope, authority and sprightliness to leave us wondering whether a French writer could have managed the task quite as deftly * Literary Review *
An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles . . . while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity * The Times *
He unfurls his intellectual history in the form of vivid biographies . . . [an] engaging movement through time towards Frances recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire . . . perceptive * TLS *
'A love for France radiates from this book' * Financial Times *

Author Bio

Peter Watson is an intellectual historian, journalist, and the author of thirteen books, including Convergence; Ideas: A History; The Age of Atheists; The German Genius; The Medici Conspiracy; and The Great Divide. He has written for The Sunday Times, The New York Times, the Observer, and the Spectator. He lives in London.