A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 1 [Paperback]

Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2006

The Frenchman of today inhabits a country, long ago civilized and Christianized, where, despite of much imperfection and much social misery, thirty-eight millions of men live in security and peace, under laws equal for all and efficiently upheld.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: BiblioBazaar (November 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426456883
• ISBN-13: 978-1426456886
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,499,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best history of France!, February 12, 2007

By 

Douglas Cox "retired programmer" (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 1 (Paperback)

I'd been looking for a history of France for the past year or so in bookstores, with no luck. Finally, I remembered Project Gutenberg on the Internet, and found this book, along with the other 5 volumes of the best history I've ever read. I've read a lot of history books written for the general reader over the years, and none has been as fascinating and as complete. These books were written in the middle 1800's by a brilliant, amazingly knowledgable, great storyteller - and translated from the French to English by a man whose translation abilities seem to be at least the equal of Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer. Half-way through this downloaded French history, I discovered it was again in print and available here, and bought the 6 volumes. One of my favorite discoveries in my life (68 years).

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Out of date, confusing, not very informative, October 21, 2008

By 

Belinda Boulter (On the Road) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 1 (Paperback)

I was hoping for a readable, accurate, history of ancient France. This book does give some historical context, but is frustrating for the modern reader. No information is provided about the author, and the translator is not even identified. The book was originally written in the 1860's, and it's not clear when the translation was made - judging from the style it was not recently. The editing is haphazard, the illustrations are laughable and not credited, and the one map seems to be a b/w photo of something hanging on a wall.

While I did not want a scholarly work, this one does not bother to support for most of its statements presented as fact. In the 140 years since it was written, archaeological and historical understanding of many of the events portrayed has changed considerably, so the reader must take every statement with a grain of salt. Instead of the promised exciting stories from history, we get a jumble of names and tribes and battles, with little attempt at background or interpretation.

I bought the first two volumes, and am giving up halfway through the first one. I got a better understanding by reading Wikipedia. There must be something better out there.