Colin Jones is Emeritus Professor of History at Queen Mary University London and has authored many books about French history, so it’s not surprising he’s able to bring together two millennia of history in its short 255 pages.
What surprised me while reading this book was the way in which climate change over time has affected not only France’s history but also Europe’s. And secondly, that the history of France was also the history of Europe, as one cannot write about a single country without looking at the milieu in which it was formed and was influenced by those countries that surround it, and how France influenced not only Europe but world history.
The Shortest History of France is a very readable book, and the author was able to include the major events that have impacted how France developed. I enjoyed the asides that he includes from Charlemagne’s statue, the development of the French language, to the Rue Saint-Honoré fashion doll.
The post-war chapters are particularly interesting as they describe how France coped with losing its empire, the impact and reassessment of the Vichy Government (under German occupation from 1941-44), how migration has changed but also enhanced what it means to be ‘French’ and, lastly, the impact of the 2024 Olympics to what the future holds.
This is a book that introduces French history in a very accessible way and would lead the reader to further research those areas that interested them.
Reviewed by Anthony Llewellyn-Evans
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Colin Jones, CBE, FBA, is Emeritus Professor of History at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author and editor of many works on French history, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of France, The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon, The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris and French Revolutionary Lives.
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