France Memoir

Alistair Horne is a leading scholar of French history. Here he trains his sights on one of the most compelling figures of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte. Far from a mere dictator, Napoleon was a military, political and social visionary whose legacy can still be felt in France and all over the world. Horne examines the one-time emperor at his most human, from his greatest triumphs to his disastrous failures.

La Révolution aurait-elle connu un autre cours si Robespierre n'avait été celui qu'il était ? La psychologie de l'"Incorruptible" traquée dans tous ses méandres pour un livre surprenant. Maximilien Robespierre reste le personnage le plus controversé de la Révolution française, en même temps qu'une figure historique étudiée dans le monde entier. Max Gallo, historien de métier et biographe aux succès éditoriaux considérables, brosse ici un portrait psycho-historique de Robespierre.

Some years ago a stash of family records was handed down to Michael Palin, among which were photos of an enigmatic young man in army uniform, as well as photos of the same young man as a teenager looking uncomfortable at family gatherings. This, Michael learnt, was his Great-Uncle Harry, born in 1884, died in 1916. He had previously had no idea that he had a Great-Uncle Harry, much less that his life was cut short at the age of 32 when he was killed in the Battle of the Somme. The discovery both shocked him and made him want to know much more about him.

A revelatory examination of the global impact of Emmanuel Macron's tumultuous presidency. In The Last President of Europe, William Drozdiak tells with exclusive inside access the story of Macron's presidency and the political challenges the French leader continues to face.

In this heartfelt, funny, touching memoir, Tan France, star of Netflix’s Emmy award-winning Queer Eye, tells his origin story for the first time. With his trademark wit, humour and radical compassion, Tan reveals what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional South Asian family, as one of the few people of colour in South Yorkshire. He illuminates his winding journey of coming of age, finding his voice (and style!) and happily marrying the love of his life - a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.

In many ways it is fitting that Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) is one of the best known figures of the French Revolution. The early years of the Revolution were fueled by Enlightenment ideals, seeking the social overthrow of the caste system that gave the royalty and aristocracy decisive advantages over the lower classes. Few were as vocal in their support of Enlightenment ideals as Robespierre. But the Reign of Terror became the most memorable aspect of the Revolution, and Robespierre's position made him the Reign of Terror's instrumental figure.

At the age of 17, Adolfo Kaminsky had narrowly escaped deportation to Auschwitz and was living in Nazi-occupied Paris, using forged documents to hide in plain sight. Due to his expert knowledge of dyes and his ability to masterfully reproduce official documents with an artistic eye, he was recruited to join the Jewish underground. He soon became the primary forger for the Resistance in Paris, working tirelessly with his network to create papers that would save an estimated 14,000 men, women, and children from certain death.

FROM BRITAIN TO SPAIN AND BACK AGAIN is Sam Haigh’s account of his family’s four challenging years in their new country, as he and his wife Emma do their best to build a life for themselves and their young son Luke. Wishing to do more than just get by, Emma and Sam try their hardest to progress in their respective professions – teaching and building – and live a similarly prosperous life to the one they left behind in Todmorden, Yorkshire. Arriving in the town of Ontinyent, Valencia in the summer of 2007, little do they know that a cataclysmic economic crash lies just around the ...

STAYING PUT is an account of one Englishman’s battle to secure his future in Spain. Jack Birtwell, a sprightly sixty-year-old from Accrington, Lancashire, is due to retire in 2019 and hopes that his poor pension prospects won’t force him to sell his beloved house in Spain and return to England to live out his days. When Brian, his friend and employer, is forced to lay him off from his part-time building job his dilemma becomes even more acute. After racking his brains and those of his closest friends for money-making ideas, he thinks he has come up with a solution. It will put paid to ...

IDLE RICH is the entertaining account of one man’s attempt to turn over a new leaf in Spain. When lifelong underachiever Richie Bannister is offered free board and lodgings in a seaside resort on the south-western coast of Andalucia, he jumps at the chance to escape from the dull Lancashire town where he’s been stuck for the last forty-odd years. His host Peter, a retired photographer, turns out not to be the doddery old fellow he’s expecting to meet, but a man on a mission into which Richie finds himself inadvertently drawn. After his so-far aimless life, this new commitment proves ...

In HOW WE SEE YOU, teacher and translator Álvaro Ramírez has collected ten biographical accounts of the lives of British people in Spain, from the late fifties until the present day, written by himself and others, with significant input from the subjects themselves. In this diverse collection we see the trials and adventures of individuals and couples through mostly sympathetic Spanish eyes, from Walter’s enigmatic sojourn in mid-century Castile to Alan’s reflective tale of a long life in voluntary exile. Here we see Brits at work and play, prospering or enduring, from a point of view...

THE MAN IN THE TENT – MY LIFE UNDER CANVAS: GETTING STARTED IN SPAIN is the continuation of Tony Beardsall’s light-hearted account of the outdoor life which he commenced at the age of fifty-one. In this stand-alone volume he describes his first months on Spanish soil, from his mobile first winter in eastern Andalusia, through a more static period in the north of Malaga, to further travels in search of the perfect place to settle down, in a tent, of course.Readers of THE MAN IN THE TENT – MY LIFE UNDER CANVAS: THE FIRST FOUR YEARS will be familiar with Tony’s modus operandi, but a ...

AMAZED BY SPAIN is a light-hearted account of two couples’ unexpected relocation to inland Alicante. Before sisters Sue and Linda inherit a village house in the hills they have little interest in Spain, but on travelling out to see their new possession they begin to warm to the idea of spending time there with their husbands Paul and Bill. After an enjoyable summer holiday the prospect of living in the village becomes irresistible and this book describes their transition from visitors to residents and the diverse selection of people they meet along the way. This amusing and informative ...

When three friends get together to take an exploratory trip around northern Spain they each have their own agenda. For Diego it’s a journey of rediscovery after nine years in Lancashire, while Justin is just eager to take a break from his humdrum life. For Frank it’s a sober return to a country where he taught and caroused for fifteen years until he found himself back in Blackburn after an unexpected windfall. Frank desires to take his new hobby of film-making to the next level, while his pals hope that it won’t come to dominate their every waking hour. TAKE THREE is a light-hearted ...

When Nigel Hamson arrives at the quiet village in Extremadura, no-one knows who he is or what he is doing there. Over the following weeks his eccentric behaviour intrigues the villagers, but little by little his intentions become clear, first to himself, and then to the people he befriends. In Ways of Escape – An Outsider in Spain, we follow Nigel’s first stumbling steps to carve out a new life for himself in the Spanish hinterland, as he adjusts his own needs and aspirations to those of the close-knit community. Both light-hearted and informative, this unusual account of a man striving...

STEADY ON, GEORGE! is the stirring and humorous account of the adventures of two mature men in Spain. Five months after his friend George becomes a widower, 76-year-old Mel Taylor finally gets his new knee into gear and flies out to visit him in Denia. Intending to stay for a couple of weeks, George soon whisks him off on a trip whose consequences threaten to turn his quiet life by the English seaside upside down. Despite the misgivings of his protective daughter Beth, Mel soon finds George’s desire for change and renewal so contagious that previously unthinkable ideas begin to seem quite...

GETTING AHEAD is the third instalment of THE RELUCTANT EXPAT, Alan Laycock’s light-hearted account of his life in Spain. The fourth and final part of Alan’s story is now available.

Popular biographer Carolly Erickson creates intimate and richly detailed portraits of her historical subjects. In this book she offers a provocative new perspective on Josephine and her fabled marriage to Napoleon.

In the early 18th century, 80 years prior to revolution, France went wild for stocks and bonds. Mechanics dropped their tools and tradesmen closed their shops. There was but one profession, one employment, one occupation for persons of all ranks, from peasant to prince. And that profession was speculating in stocks. This is the story of John Law, the adventurous Scotsman played chance against an entire nation.

THE OPPORTUNIST – AN ENTERPRISING LIFE IN SPAIN is Craig K. Kirkland’s account of his inventive and ignoble efforts to make his fortune. After a rather unscrupulous apprenticeship in the north midlands he is forced to flee abroad to further his ambitions and in this amusing chronicle he recounts his unethical exploits with brazen honesty. Mr Kirkland’s eye-opening tale of ingenuity and avarice, though not for the overly righteous, makes for an entertaining and thought-provoking read. This book is not intended as an instruction manual and the publisher does not condone the author’s ...