MARY MCAULIFEE

These books tell of a completely defeated France (1870), loser of the Franco-Prussian War, and for the next 44 years France’s imagination became culture and industry reinventing its thinking, culture and society, and somewhat its politics. Those achievements in the Arts, in literature, education and scientific endeavors (Pasteur, Pierre, Marie Curie) drove France into the Twentieth Century.

The innovation of this history is an original telling in its approach, beginning in 1870 and year after year going through 1918 (end of World War One). Culture enters the story and artists, including industrialists, struggle for recognition, succeeding as years pass. Politics and foreign affairs are included but not emphasized. Georges Clemenceau, a friend of all the painters and writers, gets the most attention.

The text is easy to follow. Its argument builds with humor, and terrific antidotes, while the Art, society and politics progress. One wonders how Paris was livable. Of the many histories I’ve encountered, this is a brilliant survey presentation. Its style gives the essence of France and the French in a studied, flippant, and charming manner.