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History of France (book written in 1806)

History of France, 1806 style

In 1806 someone had the bright idea that a history of France and the French, written in English, was a good idea. I'm sure he was right.

The book itself, not surprisingly, gets a bit heavy going (he says, having glanced rather than studied it) but a couple of paragraphs in the introduction caught my eye.

Would anyone now write that the French were descended from 'a peculiar and lively race' I wonder? It seems unlikely that anyone in Europe in 1806, at the height of the Napoleonic Era fighting against the coalition of European countries that opposed the revolution, would be able to offer a balanced view of France at that time.

Perhaps this belongs in the 'culture' section rather than the 'history' section...