A Short History of France: From Caesar's Invasion to the Battle of Waterloo


Read by Pamela Nagami

(4.6 stars; 7 reviews)

After the Roman conquest, the Celtic Gauls adopted Roman culture and speech. The Germanic invasions ultimately transformed France into a Catholic feudal society. In this short history, Mary Duclaux traces the emergence of towns, the rise of the French monarchy, the calamitous Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. We meet Joan of Arc, Charles VII, the gallant Henry IV, and the Sun King, Louis XIV, who drove France to the brink of bankruptcy. In the second half of the book Duclaux gives us the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon: Louis XVI, sunk in "plump and smiling apathy," Marie Antoinette, who pleaded with France's enemies for rescue, the Paris mob who hated her, Danton, Saint-Just, Robespierre, and the Terror, and finally a sombre young Corsican officer with no small talk, the military and administrative genius, Napoleon Bonaparte. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)
(10 hr 47 min)

Chapters

Pt. I: The Roman Tradition, Ch. 1: The Romans in Gaul 10:24 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. I, Ch. 2: The Gallo-Romans 16:25 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. I, Ch. 3: The Church in Gaul 9:04 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. I, Ch. 4: The Kingdom of Toulouse 13:02 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. I, Ch. 5: The Kingdom of France 8:56 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. I, Ch. 6: The French Language 8:53 Read by Pamela Nagami
Part II: Feudal Society, Ch. 1: The Rise of Feudalism, Pt. 1 12:45 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 1: The Rise of Feudalism, Pt. 2 14:23 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 2: Chivalry 8:52 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. 2, Ch.3: The Communes or Towns’ Unions: The Rise of the Middle Class 9:37 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 4: The First Renaissance 23:10 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 5: The Hundred Years' War, Pt. 1 13:15 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 5: The Hundred Years' War, Pt. 2 15:20 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. II, Ch. 6: Deliverance 13:55 Read by Pamela Nagami
Part III: The Centralized Monarchy, Ch. 1: The Renaissance, Pt. 1 13:03 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 1: The Renaissance, Pt. 2 13:28 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 2: The Wars of Religion, Pt. 1 17:03 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 2: The Wars of Religion, Pt. 2 18:04 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 3: The Century of Louis XIV, Pt. 1 22:07 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 3: The Century of Louis XIV, Pt. 2 18:51 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 4: The Eighteenth Century, Pt. 1 13:29 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 4: The Eighteenth Century, Pt. 2 16:43 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 5: Louis XVI, Pt. 1 15:31 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 5: Louis XVI, Pt. 2 17:51 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 6: The Fall of the Monarchy, Pt. 1 19:29 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 6: The Fall of the Monarchy, Pt. 2 25:09 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. III, Ch. 6: The Fall of the Monarchy, Pt. 3 23:50 Read by Pamela Nagami
Part IV: The Revolution and Europe, Ch.1: The Reign of Terror, Pt. 1 14:14 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 1: The Reign of Terror, Pt. 2 9:10 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 1: The Reign of Terror, Pt. 3 15:32 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 1: The Reign of Terror, Pt. 4 15:04 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 2: The Coming of Bonaparte, Pt. 1 13:29 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 2: The Coming of Bonaparte, Pt. 2 10:50 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 2: The Coming of Bonaparte, Pt. 3 15:49 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 3: Napoleon, Pt. 1 18:04 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 3: Napoleon, Pt. 2 7:34 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 3: Napoleon, Pt. 3 13:45 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 3: Napoleon, Pt. 4 22:46 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 4: The Return of the Bourbons 18:41 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 5: The Hundred Days 22:25 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 6: Waterloo, Pt. 1 12:15 Read by Pamela Nagami
Pt. IV, Ch. 6: Waterloo, Pt. 2 13:57 Read by Pamela Nagami
Epilogue 10:59 Read by Pamela Nagami

Reviews

Informative French History 101


(5 stars)

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