Search
Log in
  • Home

  • Categories

  • Audiobooks

  • E-books

  • Magazines

  • For kids

  • Top lists

  • Help

  • Download app

  • Use campaign code

  • Redeem gift card

  • Try free now
  • Log in
  • Language

    🇪🇸 España

    • ES
    • EN

    🇧🇪 Belgique

    • FR
    • EN

    🇩🇰 Danmark

    • DK
    • EN

    🇩🇪 Deutschland

    • DE
    • EN

    🇫🇷 France

    • FR
    • EN

    🇳🇱 Nederland

    • NL
    • EN

    🇳🇴 Norge

    • NO
    • EN

    🇦🇹 Österreich

    • AT
    • EN

    🇨🇭 Schweiz

    • DE
    • EN

    🇫🇮 Suomi

    • FI
    • EN

    🇸🇪 Sverige

    • SE
    • EN
  1. Books
  2. History
  3. Europe

Read and listen for free for 7 days!

Cancel anytime

Try free now
4.0(3)

The French Mind : 400 Years of Romance, Revolution and Renewal

‘Majestic, ambitious' Literary Review

_________________________________________________________________________________________

We 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?

Journalist and historian Peter Watson sets out to answer these questions in The French Mind, a 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 succession of women who ran these institutions, fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else in the world.

It’s a story that takes us into Bohemian cafes and cabarets, into chic Parisian high culture via French philosophies of food, fashion and sex, while growing unrest hastens the bloody birth of a republic. From the 1789 revolution to the country’s occupation by Nazi Germany, Watson argues that a unique series of devastating military defeats helped shape the resilient, proud, innovative character of the French.

This is a history of breathtaking ambition, propelled by the characters Watson brings to vivid life: the writers, revolutionaries and painters who loved, inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years. It documents the shaping of a nation whose global influence, in art, culture and politics, cannot be overstated.

_____________________________________________________________________

‘An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles, rooted in the Enlightenment and French Revolution, while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity’ The Times

'An engaging movement through time towards France’s recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire’ TLS


Author:

  • Peter Watson

Narrator:

  • Richard Attlee

Format:

  • Audiobook
  • E-book

Duration:

  • 29 h 16 min
  • 788 pages

Language:

English

Categories:

  • History
  • Europe

More by Peter Watson

Skip the list
  1. The British Imagination : A History of Ideas from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II

    Peter Watson

    audiobookbook
  2. The German Genius : Europe's Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution and the Twentieth Century

    Peter Watson

    audiobook
  3. Historia secreta de la bomba atómica : Cómo se llegó a construir un arma que no se necesitaba

    Peter Watson

    book
  4. Fallout : Conspiracy, Cover-Up and the Deceitful Case for the Atom Bomb

    Peter Watson

    book
  5. Convergence : The Deepest Idea in the Universe

    Peter Watson

    book
  6. The German Genius: Europe's Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution and the Twentieth Century

    Peter Watson

    book

Others have also read

Skip the list
  1. Sapiens : A Brief History of Humankind

    Yuval Noah Harari

    audiobook
  2. Llorar, reír, vivir. Simplemente Yokoi Kenji

    Yokoi Kenji Díaz

    book
  3. Homo Deus : A Brief History of Tomorrow

    Yuval Noah Harari

    audiobook
  4. Nexus : en kort historik över informationsnätverk från stenåldern till AI

    Yuval Noah Harari

    audiobookbook
  5. Creative Filmmaking from the Inside Out : Five Keys to the Art of Making Inspired Movies and Television

    Jed Dannenbaum, Carroll Hodge, Doe Mayer

    book
  6. Just Draw! : A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists

    Susie Hodge

    book
  7. The Human Age

    Diane Ackerman

    audiobook
  8. Stoicism and Law of Attraction, Collection

    Michael Pond

    audiobook
  9. ¡Es la microbiota, idiota! : Descubre cómo tu salud depende de los billones de microorganismos que habitan en tu cuerpo

    Sari Arponen

    audiobookbook
  10. FLATLAND (Illustrated) : A Romance of Many Dimensions

    Edwin A. Abbott

    book
  11. Homo sapiens : Una fascinante guía sobre la historia de los humanos y la evolución humana

    Captivating History

    book
  12. Todo lo que tienes que saber sobre la vida

    Enrique Rojas

    audiobookbook

  • 7 books

    Peter Watson

    Peter Watson is an intellectual historian, journalist, and the author of thirteen books, including Convergence; Ideas: A History; The Age of Atheists; The German Genius; The Medici Conspiracy; and The Great Divide. He has written for The Sunday Times, The New York Times, the Observer, and the Spectator. He lives in London.

    Read more

Help and contact


About us

  • Our story
  • Career
  • Press
  • Accessibility
  • Partner with us
  • Investor relations
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Explore

  • Categories
  • Audiobooks
  • E-books
  • Magazines
  • For kids
  • Top lists

Popular categories

  • Crime
  • Biographies and reportage
  • Fiction
  • Feel-good and romance
  • Personal development
  • Children's books
  • True stories
  • Sleep and relaxation

Nextory

Copyright © 2025 Nextory AB

Privacy Policy · Terms ·
Excellent4.3 out of 5