{"product_id":"the-french-mind-9781398511507","title":"The French Mind","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Majestic, ambitious' \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e_________________________________________________________________________________________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWe are endlessly fascinated by the French. We are fascinated by their way of life, their creativity, sophistication and self-assurance, and even their insistence that they are exceptional. But how did France become the country it is today, and what really sets it apart?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJournalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answer these questions in \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e French Mind, \u003c\/i\u003ea dazzling history of France that takes us from the seventeenth century to the present day through the nation’s most influential thinkers. He opens the doors to the Renaissance salons that were a breeding ground for poets, philosophers and scientists, and tells the forgotten stories of the extraordinary succe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003cb\u003eMajestic, ambitious\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [Peter Watson] deserves admiration for the \u003cb\u003egrace and agility \u003c\/b\u003ewith which he interlinks the development of a vigorous cultural identity and the seismic shifts of French national history, continually lurching between triumph and disaster. I\u003cb\u003empressive enough in its scope, authority and sprightliness\u003c\/b\u003e to leave us wondering whether a French writer could have managed the task quite as deftly’  * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e‘An \u003cb\u003eencyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles\u003c\/b\u003e . . . while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity’  * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e‘He unfurls his intellectual history in the form of \u003cb\u003evivid biographies\u003c\/b\u003e . . . [an] e\u003cb\u003engaging movement through time \u003c\/b\u003etowards France’s recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire’  * TLS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘A love of France radiates from this book’ \u003c\/b\u003e * Financial Times *","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49407723045207,"sku":"9781398511507","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-french-mind-9781398511507","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}