Story of Old France

Before France became France, it was a furnace of Gauls, Romans, and Franks. This book traces that centuries-long transformation, from ancient Celtic tribes to the magnificent court of Versailles, through the lives of the men and women who forged a nation. Guerber populates her narrative with the rulers, warriors, saints, and scoundrels who left their mark: Charlemagne crowning himself emperor in the year 800, Joan of Arc hearing her voices in a damp barn, Henry IV promising a chicken in every pot. Beyond the battles and treaties, she captures the cultural fabric that makes France recognizable: the building of Notre-Dame, the Wars of Religion, the flourishing of French literature and philosophy. The anecdotes and biographical sketches transform dates and treaties into living human drama. This is history for the curious reader who wants to understand not just what happened in France, but why the French think and behave as they do. The story ends in 1715, with Louis XIV dying in Versailles and a new century waiting to be born.