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54 reviews for:
The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War
Graham Robb
3.9 AVERAGE
54 reviews for:
The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War
Graham Robb
3.9 AVERAGE
Massively quotable and fun. My three favourite parts:
1) The Cassini family's surveying and mapping of France, hindered by bad roads, wild animals, suspicious locals and occasionally by being accused of witchcraft.
2) The cagots - a forgotten caste of French untouchables who were discriminated against for centuries for reasons no one now remembers.
3) Mme de Genlis' phrasebook for tourists travelling through France by coach, including such key vocabulary as, 'The postilion has fainted', 'The horses have just collapsed', and 'I believe the wheels are on fire. Look and see.'
1) The Cassini family's surveying and mapping of France, hindered by bad roads, wild animals, suspicious locals and occasionally by being accused of witchcraft.
2) The cagots - a forgotten caste of French untouchables who were discriminated against for centuries for reasons no one now remembers.
3) Mme de Genlis' phrasebook for tourists travelling through France by coach, including such key vocabulary as, 'The postilion has fainted', 'The horses have just collapsed', and 'I believe the wheels are on fire. Look and see.'
Very interesting history of the people, landscape and animals that helped make France the country it is today. Well written and engaging.
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Extremely good. I did find the chapters a bit scattershot, which might be difficult to deal with if you intended to read the book straight through. Since I read in several sittings, it worked in the books' favor.
Robb's theory, so far as I can see it, turns on the notion that in the process of discovery one eventually knows destruction as well. As soon as an area is mapped, charted, understood by its resources, then there are the people wanting to move to it, use it all up, and charge others to see it. Then, it becomes a politic, and whether it's tourism or daily life, a whole space is lost to what was either found by people looking to expand their reach or some gentle ego wishing to understand better his/her world.
In addition, so much of this book for me was connected to larger concerns around history-telling, the differing spaces that scholars, politicians, and the public inhabit in thinking of their past and present. For me, the book clarified a sense I had already—that history is usually more laden with stories of erasure than preservation. But then also the reminders that 'erasure' and 'preservation' are necessary to progress but dangerous to our senses of origin, to the life of certain populations. I guess now I want to think about what is important, as we look at the U.S. and the history she wants or needs to preserve or erase to make room for truer accounts, a long history of 'undiscovered' (
In addition, so much of this book for me was connected to larger concerns around history-telling, the differing spaces that scholars, politicians, and the public inhabit in thinking of their past and present. For me, the book clarified a sense I had already—that history is usually more laden with stories of erasure than preservation. But then also the reminders that 'erasure' and 'preservation' are necessary to progress but dangerous to our senses of origin, to the life of certain populations. I guess now I want to think about what is important, as we look at the U.S. and the history she wants or needs to preserve or erase to make room for truer accounts, a long history of 'undiscovered' (
Loved this book -- it's well written, interesting, full of trivia (if you're inclined to that), a perceptive look at how France became (or didn't become) France as we know it.
Outstanding. I listened on audible and blogged the good bits. So much I didn't know. My favourite chapter tho' is on the working dogs of France.
adventurous
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Invaluable for anyone interested in the history and geography of France beyond Paris. Comprehensive and informative but not dense-feeling.