Author’s Introduction:
This, good readers, is the final volume of my monumental Histoire de France
1, a two decade labor of love. It has been a far from easy task, the composition of this work. I admit that when I began it in the late 1980’s, at the request of my good friend Jacques Pierre DeLacy
2, who sadly did not live to see this work’s completion, I did not expect it to be as sprawling a work as it has been. I expected, humorously, to have it occupy just one volume, no more than five hundred pages in length.
This work covers France from the failure of the Great Revolution, and the abdication of
Louis l'Echec, to the modern day, concluding with the 80th birthday celebration of Our Most Beloved Monarch, Henri V. It will, I hope, satisfy both the serious historian, and the reader who, having not opened a history book since his school days, will find enjoyable.
Before I swing open the doors to the main text of this work, I have some people to thank. First, my wife, Isabelle, for patiently reading this entire work, in its many installations, and for all her help these past twenty years. My friends, Frederick Cousteau
3, Bernard St. Claire
4, and André Toubon
5, for all of their wonderful editing to my manuscript, including entire sections which were re-written on their advice. Finally, my editor, Charles Blanchot, for his extreme patience in waiting for this final volume, and then, once a volume was submitted, for spending even more time working on it, editing it with the same careful eye as he had the previous two volumes. Without his patience, and his faith in me, this work would have either been never published, or passed off to a speedier writer five years ago at least.
Now, without further delay, I present the final volume in my work; I wish you all a bonne lecture!
1 Volume 1 The Formation of the Kingdom, from Pre-History to Charlemagne (Royal Publishing, 1990); Volume 2, Dawning Empire, from Charlemagne to The Failed Revolution (Royal Publishing, 1993) 2 1931-2005, Professor of Modern French History at the Faculté des Sciences Humaines et Sociales – Sorbonne from 1962-19963 Born 1936, Professor of French History at Oxford University since 19714 Born 1923, Professor of International Relations at the Université de Genève from 1950-19985 Born 1927, Professor of International Relations at the Universidad de Madrid from 1977-1992
There will be a mix of real and imaginary figures that appear in this timeline. If anyone has any special requests for people in the future, PM them to me, and I’ll see what I can do. Most of the people referenced in the footnotes, and nearly all of the works, are fictional, and of my own invention. This will focus very much on France, but if anyone has questions about other countries, feel free to ask in the thread.
