by Alistair Horne (Author)
In the centenary year of the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain, a new history of France by Britain's premier historian of France, at a moment when via the Euro, development of the European Union and the Tunnel, Franco-British destinies are more than ever intertwined, yet in so many other ways, immigration, the Gulf War for example, the two countries are at odds. With FRIEND OR FOE Horne follows up his recent SEVEN AGES OF PARIS (Macmillan, 2002), -'his most outstanding work,' writes Maurice Druon. 'He has perfectly grasped the wavelike contiunum in France's destiny, which travels incessantly from the peaks to the troughs.' Thus his history is 'idiosyncratic and schematic, a personalised interpretation of French history, swinging between heights and depths; cycles of illusory pursuit of 'la gloire' so often followed by hubristic disaster, and in turn miraculously swift recovery, and cultural triumph.' Horne gives a special focus on crises and dramas and personalities. He reflects on the state of the Franco-Brit 'Special Relationship' over the centuries. He will consider, in Epilogue, the proposition: is entente or rivalry, if not emnity, the natural status?F RIEND OR FOE takes a chronological approach.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 472
Edition: 1st Edition
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 28 Oct 2004
ISBN 10: 0297848941
ISBN 13: 9780297848943
Book Overview: Celebration of the centenary of Entente Cordiale between France and Britain High reputation of Alistair Horne, particularly on French history Admired by the French: 'Alistair Horne [wrote Maurice Druon, former head of the Academie Francaise] is a storyteller as well as a historian. When he writes History, he tells us a story - superbly and dramatically.'