The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War

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Overview

A narrative of exploration—full of strange landscapes and even stranger inhabitants—that explains the enduring fascination of France. While Gustave Eiffel was changing the skyline of Paris, large parts of France were still terra incognita. Even in the age of railways and newspapers, France was a land of ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communication networks, and pre-Christian beliefs. French itself was a minority language.

Graham Robb describes that unknown world in arresting narrative detail. He recounts the epic journeys of mapmakers, scientists, soldiers, administrators, and intrepid tourists, of itinerant workers, pilgrims, and herdsmen with their millions of migratory domestic animals. We learn how France was explored, charted, and colonized, and how the imperial influence of Paris was gradually extended throughout a kingdom of isolated towns and villages.

The Discovery of France explains how the modern nation came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France—past and present—remains to be discovered. A New York Times Notable Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book, Slate Best Book, and Booklist Editor's Choice.

Editorial Reviews

Caroline Weber
Written as a "social and geographical history" in which "'France' and 'the French' would mean something more than Paris and a few powerful individuals," The Discovery of France draws its material not just from the usual array of scholarly sources, but from the author's own back-road explorations on his bicycle. ("This book," Robb notes, "is the result of 14,000 miles in the saddle and four years in the library.") Such an approach is particularly engrossing when one remembers that the very geographical concept of France was still, in the 18th century, very much in flux.
—The New York Times Book Review
William Grimes
France, in this brilliant work of history seen from the margins, dissolves under close inspection into a vast cabinet of curiosities, an endless series of counter examples to the myth of a culturally unified nation and people…France was a land of marvels, with each region, and each village within each region, culturally and linguistically isolated from the rest of the country but interconnected economically by an ancient network of trails and commercial ties. Mr. Robb, who writes beautifully, unravels these connecting threads, highlights differences and traces the long, slow process of centralization that has erased most of the cultural differences he describes and changed the very landscape itself…Mr. Robb has accomplished quite a feat. He has reintroduced France to itself.
—The New York Times
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
Publishers Weekly

France is often regarded as the center of elegant civilization, so it's surprising to find that as late as 1890, most of the population was far from civilized-outside the confines of sophisticated Paris, as noted biographer Robb explains in his riveting exploration of France's historical geography, great swathes of countryside were terra incognita: dark places inhabited by illiterate tribes professing pre-Christian beliefs and lethally hostile to outsiders. They spoke not French but regional dialects; much of the country had not been accurately mapped; and many in the rural areas lacked surnames. The author himself embarked on a 14,000-mile bicycle tour of the France passed over in tourist guides. The result is a curious, engrossing mix of personal observation, scholarly diligence and historical narrative as Robb discusses the formation of both the French character and the French state. Robb's biographies of Victor Hugo, Rimbaud and Balzac were all selected by the New York Timesas among the best books of the year, an accolade that assures a select readership will be eager to pack his newest alongside their Michelin guides. 8 pages of b&w illus, maps. (Oct.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Library Journal

This is a difficult yet intriguing book that should be appreciated by academic specialists in French culture and history. Acclaimed biographer Robb (Victor Hugo: A Biography) aims to demonstrate that France remains a land of contrasts and mystery, as indeed it has been for centuries. Following a loose historical chronology from the late 17th to the early 20th century, he describes the peoples and regions of France as seen by the mapmakers, surveyors, soldiers, scientists, literary figures, and tourists who encountered them. Robb himself embarked on a 14,000-mile cycling itinerary to discover this hidden France; he joins his observations to those of other more renowned observers, such as Arthur Young, Jean Racine, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Hence, this work may also be seen as a guidebook to the regions and their people, languages, folktales, monuments, and traditions. Robb insists France must be viewed outside the lens of Paris alone. Indeed, he demonstrates that even by the late 19th century, patriotism on the national level meant very little to natives more attached to local customs and norms. In a fascinating narrative, the reader is introduced to an encyclopedic array of images and vignettes that recapture and re-create scenes of ordinary life in diverse rural and provincial communities. The book's politically charged and timely conclusion argues that even today, much of France remains to be discovered. Recommended for specialized and large academic collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/1/07.]
—Marie Marmo Mullaney

The Barnes & Noble Review
Graham Robb wants you to see France -- not the country you think you know, the one with the Louvre, the existentialism, the sublime cuisine, and the fashion sense. Nor the picturesque version of laid-back life in Provence made famous by Peter Mayle et al. The author of award-winning biographies of Balzac and Rimbaud explores a truly unknown country in The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography from the Revolution to the First World War. On bicycle (enabling a horse-bound traveler's perspective), the author meanders through the French landscape spatially, while his deeply researched book dives backward in time, recovering with a sense of wonder France's assemblage of wildly diverse "tribes." He gives us a nation of competing languages, of wild wastes and prehistoric rituals, where wolves were still a danger to village people in Dordogne at the turn of the 20th century. Most winningly, Robb's France is a mosaic of indelible images and still-resonant tales: stilt-walking shepherds in the Landes; a rock-ledge hamlet in the Pyrenees where the dead were lowered by ropes to the valley below; and the strange, moving saga of the cagots, a persecuted "caste" whose ethnic identity remains a historical mystery. Connecting the plight of the cagots to the later effects of anti-Semitism (and modern French controversies over Islamic "assimilation"), Robb proves that his tour of the vast countryside of the past inevitably winds up returning us -- wiser or not -- directly to the present. --Bill Tipper

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780393059731
  • Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 10/29/2007
  • Pages: 352
  • Sales rank: 724,523
  • Product dimensions: 6.50 (w) x 9.60 (h) x 1.40 (d)

Meet the Author

Graham Robb is the award-winning biographer of Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Rimbaud. His other books include The Discovery of France, Parisians, and Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century. He lives in Oxford, England.

Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 6 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 10, 2008

    All together, now!

    This is an absolutely fascinating study of the bits and pieces of France before they became the culture we think France has always been. I had no idea. I am riveted. I can picture this, too, having driven many French backroads and listened to dialects I can't understand. I will now think about France in a new way, and I'll never think of it again as I did before I read this book. Masterful research, analysis, and writing. Required reading.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 22, 2012

    Poorly written

    The information about France is here but the writing is so convoluted that getting it is a chore. There must be better books about France than this one.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 14, 2010

    Thoroughly depressing

    This book lacked a theme or an organizational thread. The author advocated learning more about the real history of rural France by traveling at bicycle speeds; there was no geographic or historical way he transitioned from one area or time to another. As a result, you were forced to turn to the map at the beginning of the book to determine which area or small town he was talking about, but after awhile, it got so depressing I didn't bother. It was drudgery to get through the book.

    I have lived in southern France (Bouches-du-Rhone) twice for a total of 18 months; both during professional exchanges. I couldn't disagree more with the author's assessment of the warmth of the people. However, there were some aspects the author revealed of "why people are the way they are" that I had experienced but not understood. My interpretation of those characteristics at the time, and even today, was far less sinister than the author's.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 1, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 19, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 30, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

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