Shortest History of France, The

'An ideal introduction to French history for almost any reader. It is also very up to date... the range of Jones's coverage, delivered with elegance and often wit, is very impressive.’
LITERARY REVIEW

‘A perfect little digest… Jones’ book should appeal to both philistines and experts’
EVENING STANDARD

'A stimulating and expert achievement... Jones is well known for his eye for illuminating detail and his enjoyment of the quirks of human folly. Despite the scale of his task, he demonstrates these qualities in hundreds of incisive observations. The book is studded with illustrations, maps, and sidebars... Fascinating’
AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW

‘Vital, incisive, revelatory -- takes us to the place, to the instant, to the heartbeat of revolution’
HILARY MANTEL on The Fall of Robespierre

‘Authoritative… this book, which has no equivalent in recent writing about French history, should reach out beyond the British Isles to the English-speaking world in its entirety’
EMMANUAL LE ROY LADURIE on The Cambridge Illustrated History of France

‘Gripping, superbly researched, strikingly original’
LITERARY REVIEW on The Fall of Robespierre

‘Enthralling, incisively argued… thrilling’
FINANCIAL TIMES on The Fall of Robespierre

‘The most original approach to history in years… one of the most absorbing and unusual history books imaginable’
THE SUNDAY TIMES on The Smile Revolution<

‘Intelligent, unpretentious and even mischievous’
TLS on The Smile Revolution

About the Author
COLIN JONES is Emeritus Professor of Cultural History at Queen Mary University, London. His many books include The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize in 2021), Paris: Biography of a City (winner of the Enid MacLeod Prize) and The Smile Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Paris.