- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (6 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0753819252
- ISBN-13: 978-0753819258
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 694,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Friend or Foe: A History of France
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Product Description
Review
"What's even more impressive is that despite the weight of the subject matter, Horne combines an almost sprightly caper through our Gallic neighbours' history with a serious, informative narrative that covers the milestones in depth... A useful primer, then, for anyone interested in French history." (OBSERVER )
"This complete history of France takes us from its humble beginnings as a Roman outpost called Lutetia right up to the rift with Britain and America over Iraq in 2003." (GUARDIAN )
"This complete history of France takes us from its humble beginnings as a Roman outpost called Lutetia right up to the rift with Britain and America over Iraq in 2003." (GUARDIAN )
GUARDIAN
"This complete history of France takes us from its humble beginnings as a Roman outpost called Lutetia right up to the rift with Britain and America over Iraq in 2003."
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First Sentence
When Occupied Vichy's Admiral Darlan was assassinated by a young French zealot in Algiers in December 1942, Winston Churchill observed to the House of Commons - in exasperation moderated with great sympathy - that the 'Good Lord in his infinite wisdom did not choose to make Frenchmen in the image of the English'. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When Occupied Vichy's Admiral Darlan was assassinated by a young French zealot in Algiers in December 1942, Winston Churchill observed to the House of Commons - in exasperation moderated with great sympathy - that the 'Good Lord in his infinite wisdom did not choose to make Frenchmen in the image of the English'. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am sorry to say that the title of this book is a totally misleading. I had bought it after reading the brilliant book by Robert and Isabel Tombs, That Sweet Enemy (see my review). That book deals with the often ambivalent political and cultural relationships between England and France from the time of Louis XIV to that of Jacques Chirac. The title of the book under review led me to think that its first seven chapters would deal with that topic for the period from the Norman Conquest to the time of Louis XIV; but neither before nor after the reign of Louis XIV does it do any such thing. There is the occasional sentence comparing English and French institutions. There are the briefest of references to Burke, Paine and Wordsworth, and rather more on how the English literary scene responded to Napoleon I; but there is nothing like enough to justify the title of the book. It is simply a straightforward and briskly told history of France, in which wars and alliances between England and France do occasionally take their proper place, but they are not remotely the central theme which the title suggests.
And there are times when they do not even take their proper place: some important episodes in Anglo-French relationships are omitted altogether. There is, for example, no discussion of how the Norman Conquest affected the culture of England and just one sentence on how the predominantly French culture of the court had become English by the time of Edward III. There is no reference at all to the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, which was such an important feature of Anglo-French relationship for the two and a half centuries between 1295 and 1560, and there is no mention of English diplomacy towards France during Queen Elizabeth's reign.
When we come to the reign of Louis XIV, where a book with such a title (or even one with a more neutral one) should surely have devoted some space to the wars with England, these are dismissed in just 17 lines. The great struggle for Empire between England and France in the 18th century receives equally short shrift. Foreign policy, in fact, seems to bore the author (perhaps he thinks that it will bore his readers) and the cursory way in which it is dealt with (if at all) is the greatest shortcoming of this history. Even the episode that most cries out for fuller treatment in its own right (let alone in view of the book's title) - De Gaulle's resentment of the Anglo-Saxons and his veto on Britain's entry into the Common Market - is skimped.
So do read this book if you simply want a one-volume popular, lively and spicy history of France, with plenty of character sketches, anecdotes and vignettes. When we come to the 19th century, Horne draws effectively on descriptions from the great French writers to throw light on the political and social history of the time; for the 20th century he occasionally draws on his own memories and contacts. There is much about the cultural life of France in both these centuries. He indulges himself when he comes to subjects that specially interest him, principally the architectural history of his beloved Paris, (and there are long and graphic accounts of the two sieges of Paris, by Henri IV in 1589/90 and by the Prussians in 1870/71). He seems not to be very interested in `la France Profonde' which was hostile to so many of the revolutions made by Parisian radicals.
And there are times when they do not even take their proper place: some important episodes in Anglo-French relationships are omitted altogether. There is, for example, no discussion of how the Norman Conquest affected the culture of England and just one sentence on how the predominantly French culture of the court had become English by the time of Edward III. There is no reference at all to the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, which was such an important feature of Anglo-French relationship for the two and a half centuries between 1295 and 1560, and there is no mention of English diplomacy towards France during Queen Elizabeth's reign.
When we come to the reign of Louis XIV, where a book with such a title (or even one with a more neutral one) should surely have devoted some space to the wars with England, these are dismissed in just 17 lines. The great struggle for Empire between England and France in the 18th century receives equally short shrift. Foreign policy, in fact, seems to bore the author (perhaps he thinks that it will bore his readers) and the cursory way in which it is dealt with (if at all) is the greatest shortcoming of this history. Even the episode that most cries out for fuller treatment in its own right (let alone in view of the book's title) - De Gaulle's resentment of the Anglo-Saxons and his veto on Britain's entry into the Common Market - is skimped.
So do read this book if you simply want a one-volume popular, lively and spicy history of France, with plenty of character sketches, anecdotes and vignettes. When we come to the 19th century, Horne draws effectively on descriptions from the great French writers to throw light on the political and social history of the time; for the 20th century he occasionally draws on his own memories and contacts. There is much about the cultural life of France in both these centuries. He indulges himself when he comes to subjects that specially interest him, principally the architectural history of his beloved Paris, (and there are long and graphic accounts of the two sieges of Paris, by Henri IV in 1589/90 and by the Prussians in 1870/71). He seems not to be very interested in `la France Profonde' which was hostile to so many of the revolutions made by Parisian radicals.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is billed as an Anglo-Saxon history of France; unfortunately it is nothing of the sort. A better description would be a Francophile history of Paris. References and comparisons to Britain are brief and exclusively disparaging of Britain, and the book seems to deal exclusively with Paris. As a result the book comes across, biased and selective in it's content.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have the paperpack version of this book, and it has more than 240 pages (as they indicated in the Product Details section of this page).
It is an interesting general history of France, but I have to agree that I don't fully understand the "Friend or Foe" title with reference to the book's content - aside from the most general sense of the questions as it pertains to an English reader's perspective of France.
Finally, I think this is the same book that was published as "La Belle France" in the US.
It is an interesting general history of France, but I have to agree that I don't fully understand the "Friend or Foe" title with reference to the book's content - aside from the most general sense of the questions as it pertains to an English reader's perspective of France.
Finally, I think this is the same book that was published as "La Belle France" in the US.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Where is La Pucelle?
I'm afraid that two examples among many will suffice to show the "idiosyncracies" of this book. Both are bizarre.
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Published 20 months ago by Paul A. Oliver
Personalised idiosyncratic view of France over 2000 years
Having read the critical reviews (Ralph Blumenau is spot on) I accept that this is not much of a history of France or an explanation of Anglo French relations. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by Stewart Murray
cut and paste: france
An agreeable enough canter through French history, done in the author's fluent style. Recommended for a bright adolescent, but otherwise forgettable. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2009 by James-philip Harries
A Good Whistle Stop Tour
The history of France is an area which I am unfortunately fairly ignorant of. This book is well written and covers over a thousand years of history. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2008 by owen63
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