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The third volume of the Le Yaudet excavation reports deals with the later history of the site from the fourth century AD to the present day. The site was reoccupied at the end of the Roman period, serving as a military enclave. It may well have received migrants from Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries when the settlement developed as an ecclesiastical centre, surrounded by fields. Occupation continued into the early medieval period. There is some suggestion of destruction during the Viking raids but thereafter the village spread to cover much of the highest part of the enclosure. By the sixteenth century the village had shrunk to its present size. The volume contains a full discussion of all the finds. ... Read more

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`The importance of a regional perspective for the study of hunter-gatherers is obvious if one considers that human action - as reflected in material culture - is not the result of random behaviour, but is the result of a cultural system. Archaeological sites do not exist in isolation. They are part of a regional pattern of adaptation...' - Introduction. This study examines the implications of seasonal determinations for horse and reindeer, obtained from cementum analyses, for exisiting models of subsistence and settlement in the Aquitaine Basin. The application of cementum analysis to a new species, E. caballus, is tested, and problems with the methodology are delineated. ... Read more

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Amid the national shame and subjugation following World War I in France, cultural critics there--journalists, novelists, doctors, and legislators, among others--worked to rehabilitate what was perceived as an unhealthy social body. Carolyn J. Dean shows how these critics attempted to reconstruct the "bodily integrity" of the nation by pointing to the dangers of homosexuality and pornography. Dean's provocative work demonstrates the importance of this concept of bodily integrity in France andshows how it was ultimately used to define first-class citizenship.

Dean presents fresh historical material--including novels and medical treatises--to show how fantasies about the body-violating qualities of homosexuality and pornography informed social perceptions and political action. Although she focuses on the period from 1890 to 1945, Dean also establishes the relevance of these ideas to current preoccupations with pornography and sexuality in the United States. ... Read more

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A controversial new look at a turning point in modern European history

In 1898, the Dreyfus Affair plunged French society into a year-long frenzy. In small villages and big cities, angry crowds paraded through the streets, attacking Jews and destroying Jewish-owned businesses. Anger about the imagined power of Jewish capital as well as fears of treason and racial degeneration made anti-Semitism a convenient banner behind which many social and political factions could fall in line. The anti-Semitic feelings that had been simmering in France for decades came boiling to the surface.

Until now, the details of this pogrom have slumbered in local archives, but here Pierre Birnbaum, the first to study the full range of events set in motion during the Dreyfus crisis, guides the reader on a tour of France during this tumultuous year. His innovative study makes it clear why, though prolonged violence threatened to topple the government, the institution of the state did not give way. Birnbaum shows not only that many Jews defended themselves but that police officers made mass arrests and Jewish lives and property were protected. His analysis of how and why public order was maintained offers surprising new insights.
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Based on the author's thesis, this study analyses Neanderthal behaviour patterns in both a chronological and spatial sense, in Mediterranean France. Methdological issues of how to compare assemblages from the 79 Mousterian sites examined, how to assess variability in lithic and faunal assemblages and how to interpret patterns of behaviour are considered. The archaeological data from this area, dating from 35,000 to 118,000 years ago, is also compared to south-west France where significant differences are noted. Szmidt reveals the Neanderthals as using highly adaptable and flexible strategies. ... Read more

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In the anthropology of human origins, few subjects have stimulated as much research and generated as much controversy as the transition between Neandertals and early modern humans. However, little is known about how these populations exploited faunal resources and responded to fluctuations in animal abundance. New studies investigating changes in foraging strategies during the transition are critical for improving our understanding of the transition process.This book takes a step in this direction by testing the subsistence implications of a modern human expansion into Western Europe. Key implications of the hypothesis of a modern human incursion are declines in foraging efficiency and an expansion of diet breadth. The faunas from the exceptionally detailed sequence of Saint-Cesaire, a famous site in central western France, are used to test these propositions. The results obtained suggest a novel interpretation of bio-cultural changes during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. ... Read more

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This book provides a thorough, area by area companion to the region's wealth of monuments, excavations and artefacts, from Paris and Boulogne-sur-Mer to Strasbourg and Lyon. Over ninety sites are treated in detail, including major attractions such as the parc archéologique in Lyon and the amphitheatre at Autun, numerous local museums and secluded rural excavations.
The guidebook combines a scholarly assessment of the area's Roman heritage, examining and interpreting the surviving remains, with practical visitor information such as directions to sites and opening hours. Comprehensively illustrated with photographs, maps and plans, it is a unique resource both for academic study and for visitors interested in the region's archaeological and historical background. ... Read more

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This volume provides an authoritative synthesis of recent work on the social history of France and is now thoroughly revised and updated to cover the 'long nineteenth century' from 1789-1914.Peter McPhee offers both a readable narrative and a distinctive, coherent argument about this century.McPhee explores themes such as peasant interaction with the environment, the changing experience of work and leisure, the nature of crime and protest, changing demographic patterns and family structure, the religious practices of workers and peasants, and the ideology and internal repercussions of colonisation.
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At last, a fresh take on a country that no one can seem to understand.

The French smoke, drink and eat more fat than anyone in the world, yet they live longer and have fewer heart problems than Americans. They take seven weeks of paid vacation per year, yet have the world’s highest productivity index. From a distance, modern France looks like a riddle. But up close, it all makes sense. Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrongshows how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Decrypting French ideas about land, food, privacy and language, the authors weave together the threads of French society—from centralization and the Napoleonic code to elite education and even street protests—giving us, for the first time, an understanding of France and the French.

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrongis the most ambitious work published on France since Theodor Zeldin’s The French. It goes beyond Adam Gopnik’sParis to the Moonto explain not only the essence of the French, but also how they got to be the way they are. Unlike Jonathan Fenby’s France on the Brink, the authors do not see France in a state of decline, but one of perpetual renewal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

better sample
IMHO.,the main reason why Americans and Frenchmen may dislike each other is that they are wont to judge France from Paris, and America from New York. If you want to understand a people, forget the big cities. and go for the small ones and the country. If you visit France, spend ONE day along the Seine, and get the h*** out of there, and head south-to the Loire valley, to the southern half of France. where every little town has its own history, its own wine and its own flavor - and people will love you for visiting. Forget Pigalle.

Even Frenchmen can learn from this book!
This book is a good start to understand how we the French are so different..of course to us the "Americains" are the different ones...
I wish there were more books like this one about all cultures.
Even for a native it is always good to revisit some of the history and to understand how behaviors and cultures are shaped by past experiences. It is true for individuals as well as for nations.
I am a French living in the states married to an american and finally understood some of the cultural differences my husband and I have been arguing about for the last few years thanks to 60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong!
If you plan on living in France, are living with a French or just interested in knowing why French can be so annoying read on! You won't be disappointed.
Excellent job on the not so known Algerian war which I agree with the authors has contribute to shape contemporary France as much as WWII.

Open your minds to the French & don't judge until you walk a mile in their shoes... this book shows you how!
This book is truly a wonderful read.I love anthropology and learning about other cultures.Reading books about why to travel to France or some other country isn't fun if you aren't going there.But since France and their culture has some bearing on globalization, I thought this book might be of interest.It was, but it was much more.I have been to the UK and even tho there are many differences than the US, I had no issues with cultural assimilation.But if I were to go to India I would expect there to be many more obstacles because I know their culture is much different than america.So, I always 'assumed' that going to France would be similiar to the UK, besides the language barrier.From reading this book, it is nothing of the sort.It really laid out the differences in the ways that they have learned to meld their steep traditions and hundreds & hundreds of years of history with the modern world.I loved some references that you can dine there and the waiter has the most high-tech way of ringing up your check and processing your payment but when asked about a nearby restroom, they were pointed to a Turkish toilet (mainly a hole in the ground) and that waiting in line at the bakery every single item is carefully rolled in paper and packed for you no matter how many people may be waiting behind you.I really enjoyed it and found that once I started I couldn't put it down.Kudos to Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow.

60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong....
What a delightful book.Very well written in a conversational style, it offers wonderful insight into why the French are so...well, FRENCH.The book explains French culture, history, society and customs - both as a country and a player on the global stage.It's very educational without being dry."60 Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong..." is a great read. 4/5 stars.Thanks for reading.

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong
This book was recommended to me by an American friend who lives in Paris.I am not French but I am not American either. To me, the book is far more of an expose of how two people from a very ethno-centric country (the United States)see other cultures and, surprise, discovers people who have had different experiences do not think, behave or believe the way they do. Wow.
PS I love France and the French. ... Read more

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The 1937 Paris World's Fair presented a traditionalist image of France as a rural, provincial country, faithful to its folk traditions and to its Old World heritage. France's attachment, well into the twentieth century, to its traditionalist roots has often been interpreted by scholars as a reactionary impulse, a desire to resist modernization or a wish to return to the past. However, in this book Peer argues that this enduring attachment in Third Republic France to peasants, provincials, and folklore was not inherently reactionary or anti-modernist. Instead, these aspects of France's "traditional" heritage were refashioned in new ways to allow France to modernize while still retaining its distinctive identity. ... Read more