24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite brilliant, May 7, 2006
This review is from: That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British From the Sun King to the Present (Hardcover)
This tome of nearly 700 pages of text about the relations between Britain and `that sweet enemy, France' (a phrase from a sonnet by Sir Philip Sidney) is like a huge pudding stuffed with goodies: I have rarely read a history book whose brilliance is sustained over such an immense time-range - from the reign of Louis XIV to that of Jacques Chirac. The authors - the husband an Englishman, his wife born in France - handle the story with skill, and efficiency, and they frequently employ a joyous felicity of phrase to point up differences and similarities between England and France. There are neat descriptions of personalities - the authors are always forthright in their judgments - and spirited accounts of campaigns. Even someone who, like myself, considered himself quite familiar with the political narrative will come across sections which throw a new light upon it. I learnt much, for example, from the Tombs' description of France's involvement in the American War of Independence, and from their interesting reflections on how the loss of the American colonies, even in the short term, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Britain. And the wider narrative is frequently interrupted by vignettes of little-known episodes, set in a different type, which further illuminate the themes under discussion.
There is a particularly striking chapter about the differences between the British and French navies during the Second Hundred Years' War: here, as throughout the book, the authors fully acknowledge and make excellent use of the secondary literature they have consulted. (Their list of secondary authorities runs to 28 pages.)
After the Napoleonic Wars Britain and France were never again at war with each other, and since the Entente Cordiale of 1904 they have technically been allies. But that does not mean that there have not been tensions and suspicions between the two countries throughout all these years, even during the First and Second World Wars, and of course during the inter-war period also. The authors are interesting on Appeasement. Most historians say that the French could not stop Hitler marching into the Rhineland or the Sudetenland because the British would not have supported them. The authors say that for various reasons the French governments, like the British, would not have wanted to risk a conflict anyway and were glad later to blame their non-intervention on the lack of British support.
After the Second World War Britain and France took such different attitudes towards `ever closer union' in Europe that there really has been very little cordiality between them. The parts of the book dealing with the issue of Europe bring out very well the very different visions of the two countries in an account that shows clearly how British policy handed the leadership of Western Europe to France for more than half a century, but which has broken down in today's enlarged European Union. Besides, the book argues, that leadership was exercised in a way which, after early economic successes, eventually brought stagnation to France.
The political chapters are interspersed with sparkling chapters on culture and society: how each nation saw and often stereotyped the other; how each alternatively (or simultaneously) mocked and copied, despised and envied, hated and admired the other, but could never be indifferent. Travel, manners in general and table manners in particular, sport, fashions in clothes, attitudes to the theatre, the views the two countries had about each other's women, philosophical traditions - these are some of the subjects that are treated with wit and learning.
Not the least among the charms of this book are the debates between husband and wife which end each of the four parts into which the volume is divided. It is perhaps a bit of a knockabout, in which both rally fairly uncompromisingly to the defence of their native countries; but the summing up of the `British' and `French' points of view is very well done and thought-provoking.
This must already be the most authoritative and enjoyable treatment of the period under review; but I hope that the success of this book will encourage the authors to produce a prequel, from the Norman Conquest to the 17th century, or at least from the 16th to the 17th century: the Tudor-Valois period is, in my opinion, the defining period during which the most essential differences between England and France took shape, and I would love to see the authors tackle it with the same verve which has made this book such a remarkable achievement.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fascinating Review of 300 Years, February 22, 2007
This very long (I guess about 750,000 words of text), informative and frequently amusing narrative and analysis of the clashes and misunderstandings between Britain and France (even when they were on the same side) over the past 300+ years is fascinatng and very well done. I thought I knew the history pretty well, at least from the British side, but this opened my eyes many times.
The strict focus on the two protagonists has produced what to me as an American seems to be an oddly distorted (although not inaccurate) picture of the last 70 years or so, because there is relatively little discussion of the participation of the United States in world events.
I have two complaints about the book. One is that the detailed comparison of the economic position of the two countries in recent times virtually overlooks the stultifying effect on France's employment level and economic activity of its restrictive and "protectionist" trade policy.
The second is that the index is truly dreadful, particularly considering the length of this book. I frequently looked, for example, in the index to see if a particular person was mentioned. When I failed to find that person's name in the index I assumed he/she was not mentioned. But it turned out that the index was incomplete.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An esepcially enjoyable reading experience - and quite a fresh perspective for Americans, May 21, 2007
Yes, I read a lot of books. And I review the books I enjoy (there is no point to reading what one dislikes, is there?). Once in awhile I run across a book I find to be very special and am especially enthusiastic about. This is one of those books.
Robert and Isabelle Tombs are scholars on the history of France and Britain and the combine their wonderfully expansive knowledge of those histories to give us a tour of the social, economic, military, political, and cultural histories of these nations from Louis IV through the first few years of the Twenty-First Century. As an American who grew up while America was always a dominant (if not the dominant) world power, it is particularly interesting to see how the world's major powers interacted and contended when America was largely, as yet, unpopulated by the Europeans.
Even our Revolution, so central to every American's understanding of our nation, takes a minor role in a much larger global struggle for supremacy. Both Britain and France tried to cause the other to stretch their ability to hold their growing Empires together. Each had to make choices on what to hold onto and what had only secondary importance, and what to let go. This happened over and over again. Eventually, their mutual struggles became a mutually cooperative relationship to deal with the rising German (and other) threats.
What I like about this telling is that the authors do not feel the need to side with anyone in particular. They provide quite a number of side articles (in the shaded areas) to flesh out specific points. There are also special sections such as the "interlude" (a couple of pages) on the French and Shakespeare. We also get some wonderfully chosen illustrations. However, what I like most are the chapters where the authors draw their separate conclusions and disagreements on various topics. The provide differing perspectives on the same topics that through the subject into better relief than one side alone. These sections provide for a rich perspective and help make the reading experience seomthing I wanted to savor.
The book has a tremendous amount of information about economic expenditures, the great leaders, the common folks, the literary digs at each nation, the technological leaps, the balancing of the benefits of a strong navy with the amazing costs incurred to build and maintain it. The authors are also quite clear about what was fortune (for good or ill) and what happened that actually looks like good judgment and skillful execution.
For Americans, this is can be a very helpful and educational book. It has been for me and I am grateful to the Tombs for writing it.
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