France Politics

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was an 18th-century French inventor, famed playwright, and upstart near-aristocrat in the court of King Louis XVI. In 1776, he conceived an audacious plan to send aid to the American rebels. What's more, he convinced the king to bankroll the project, and singlehandedly carried it out. By war's end, he had supplied Washington's army with most of its weapons and powder, though he was never paid or acknowledged by the United States. To some, he was a dashing hero - a towering intellect who saved the American Revolution. To others, he was pure rogue.

A story of courage in the face of evil. The tense drama of Suzanne Spaak who risked and gave her life to save hundreds of Jewish children from deportation from Nazi Paris to Auschwitz. This is one of the untold stories of the Holocaust. Suzanne Spaak was born into the Belgian Catholic elite and married into the country's leading political family. Her brother-in-law was the Foreign Minister and her husband Claude was a playwright and patron of the painter Renee Magritte.

After his surrender to the Royal Navy, Napoleon became the object of massive English public interest. He would live out his last years on the island of St. Helena without ever admitting to being a prisoner. This close study of Napoleon in captivity attempts to reconstruct an authentic portrait of the fallen emperor by examining contemporary documents and records of public opinion.

The year was 1832, a cholera pandemic raged, and the French royal family was in exile, driven out by yet another revolution. From a drafty Scottish castle, the duchesse de Berry - the mother of the 11-year-old heir to the throne - hatched a plot to restore the Bourbon dynasty. For months, she commanded a guerilla army and evaded capture by disguising herself as a man. But soon she was betrayed by her trusted advisor, Simon Deutz, the son of France's Chief Rabbi.

History celebrates George Washington as the leader of the American Revolution and the father of his country. But what has gone previously unexamined is Washington's life as a 22-year-old lieutenant colonel who led 400 American militiamen against a bigger, more experienced French army and paid a high price. Not only did Washington lose over a third of his men but the Battle of Great Meadows was also the spark that ignited the French and Indian War.

Christophe Guilluy, a French geographer, makes the case that France has become an "American society" - one that is both increasingly multicultural and increasingly unequal. The divide between the global economy's winners and losers in today's France has replaced the old left-right split, leaving many on "the periphery".

Le chômage, la précarité, les dettes à rembourser, les retraites à payer, les soins à assurer, c'est l'héritage que les baby-boomers transmettent à leurs enfants. Après avoir reçu en partage une France prospère et championne de la croissance, notre génération laisse une France défaite. Comment en est-on arrivé là ?

Undoubtedly, Napoleon, the French revolutionist and emperor, has left his mark on European history. His vast empire stretched all over the continent, and his unique image and posture have been emulated by many. In this comprehensive guide, we will take a look at some of the greatest achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as his virtues and vices, personal background, politics, exile, and death. You will gain a greater comprehension of his motives, the problems he faced, and how he solved said problems in his own way.

Familiarícese con los escritores más importantes del siglo XX francés, cuando la filosofía y la literatura intentaban dar sentido a una existencia que aún podía tambalearse por el choque de la guerra. Profundice en sus obras y pensamientos con una selección de las citas esenciales que introducen sus ideas principales y delinean la estructura de su trabajo con claridad, a través de las propias palabras de Marcel Proust, Paul Valéry, Jules Renard, Jean Giraudoux, Antoine de St Exupéry, André Gide y Anatole France.

From a young age, Charles V showed tremendous potential and intelligence. As his father and grandfather before him continued to weaken France and ruin the prestige of their royal house, Charles’ arrival on the scene couldn’t have come at a better time.

Alistair Horne is a leading scholar of French history. Here he trains his sights on one of the most compelling figures of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte. Far from a mere dictator, Napoleon was a military, political and social visionary whose legacy can still be felt in France and all over the world. Horne examines the one-time emperor at his most human, from his greatest triumphs to his disastrous failures.

Marie-France Hirigoyen propone un estudio rompedor basado en su experiencia clínica. Denuncia la confusión entre el narcisismo sano, que permite tener la suficiente seguridad en uno mismo para autoafirmarse, y el narcisismo patológico que consiste en querer apabullar a los demás. Este libro es fundamental en una sociedad en la que cada vez son más los individuos centrados en sí mismos, pegados a sus pantallas, adictos a las redes sociales para valorizarse y existir únicamente en la mirada del otro.

Charles De Gaulle's leadership of the French while in exile during World War II cemented his place in history. In contemporary France, he is the stuff of legend, consistently acclaimed as the nation's pre-eminent historical figure. But paradoxes abound. For one thing, his personal popularity sits oddly with his social origins and professional background. Neither the Army nor the Catholic Church is particularly well-regarded in France today, as they are seen to represent antiquated traditions and values.

In 1789 a group of sober-minded, concerned citizens set in motion a series of events which were to end up leading to the deaths of thousands of perfectly innocent persons. How did this reasonable movement of level-headed civic leaders spin out of control? At a glance, the French Revolution appears a bewildering series of political factions sweeping in and out of power, massacre and counter-massacre, terror and guillotine, and one economic crisis following another.

As one of the seminal social revolutions in human history, the French Revolution holds a unique legacy, especially in the West. The early years of the Revolution were fueled by Enlightenment ideals, seeking the social overthrow of the caste system that gave the royalty and aristocracy decisive advantages over the lower classes. But history remembers the French Revolution in a starkly different way, as the same leaders who sought a more democratic system while out of power devolved into establishing an incredibly repressive tyranny of their own.

Caballeros y batallas, princesas y castillos, asedios y profetas guerreros que lideran el camino hacia la victoria sobre relucientes caballos blancos: todo parece ser parte de mitos y leyendas. La historia de esta guerra se vuelve fascinante por su entorno, pero es inspiradora por sus personajes. Jóvenes reyes y audaces reinas, prisioneros que creen en el honor, tormentas de granizo que detienen luchas enteras y la historia de una joven campesina que cambió el curso de la historia.

Napoleon - schon der Name ist bis heute Inbegriff von Ruhm und historischer Größe. Nur selten in der Weltgeschichte hat ein Mensch in so kurzer Zeit so viel erobert und so viel verspielt. Johannes Willms, der große Kenner der Epoche und Napoleon-Biograph, fasst in diesem kritischen Porträt noch einmal den Aufstieg und Fall des Ausnahmemenschen zusammen, der erst Frankreich und dann Europa beherrschte, vom Revolutionsgeneral zum Despoten wurde und am Ende nach der Schlacht von Waterloo in der Verbannung starb.

Considered by some to be far too old for one attempting to rejuvenate the career of a soldier, Baron Johann von de Kalb was a keen student of war with a steady mind and hand. Once able to prove his worth to the Continental Congress, he rose immediately to the rank of brigadier general under George Washington, served with distinction, and died heroically in the Battle of Camden, a battle in the South that foretold the eventual surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Familiarize-se com os escritores mais importantes do século XX francês, quando a filosofia e a literatura tentavam dar sentido a uma existência que ainda podia estar a recuperar do choque da guerra.

Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793) gave the French Revolution a voice. One of the most memorable and notorious revolutionaries, Marat became one of the Revolution's best-known figures through his speeches, writings, and scathing attacks on everyone he perceived as, "[E]nemies of the revolution". No revolutionary was more passionate, determined, and willing to die for the cause.