Provence: A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination): A Cultural History (Landscapes of the Imagination) [Paperback]

This is a review of the paperback edition.

It is a silly publisher who produces an illustrated book on Provence but published those photographs in monochrome. Moreover, some of these do not even have a caption to tell us what or where they are. And, there is no map at all to tell us where the places are in relation to each other! There are, though, two indexes, one of names, the other of places; the former is twice as long as the latter, which I guess indicates that the author is more concerned about people than places. But what I hope this review shows is that this book is not is a cultural history of Provence - there is no overarching chronological review of the region`s architecture, art, literature and music; rather, the book is a cultural guide.

Clearly, the author has read his sources, literary, factual, and critical. There is much comment on the art and literature and some on the music. The author's geographic scope is shifty. In his preface, he tells us that his Provence is "an area that includes places beyond the Rhone that are technically in Languedoc, but traditionally part of Provence - Nimes, the Pont du Gard, Beaucaire, Aigues-Mortes - and does not include the Cote d'Azur and its hinterland. This province is a rich and varied one, which is why there is no room for the riches of the Riviera." This is understandable, although involving a sleight-of-hand, for the phrase "traditionally part of Provence" is a very ambiguous concept. Still, if the Michelin green guide can do it, why not this author?

The author's twenty-page introduction is a rambling concoction jumping from visitors' accounts of the area, to its language and literature, before finally ending up discussing its cooking and wines. Indeed, the rest of the book is a bit of a ramble too. Chapter two, for example - `Petrarch's Provence' - ends with Madame de Sevigne at Grignan via Nostradamus at Salon-de-Provence and the Roman theatre in Orange. But perhaps each chapter is a geographic rather than a biographical essay. Thus chapter three - `Van Gogh's Provence' - barely mentions the artist but focuses instead on Arles. In other words, despite my comment above about the sizes of the two indexes, the names become pegs on which to hang the pays.

I may give the impression that I did not enjoy this book. This would be wrong, for despite the rambling nature, there is much here that was new and insightful. The author also has a pleasant way with words that draws the reader into the subject and onwards to the next. The section on further reading at the end is useful, but there is already many references to other works to whet the appetite in the main body of the book. However, on occasion there are a lack of references. For example, the author mentions Diana Wood's "useful study" of Pope Clement VI without giving any further details.