France Memoir

ESCAPE TO EXTREMADURA is the candid, entertaining account of a middle-aged Lancastrian’s move to a small town in one of the least populated areas of Spain. After fate brings Brian and Mónica together in a café in Clitheroe, love blossoms and they begin to make plans for the future. His hasty retirement from a long career at a Lancaster furniture company precedes their flight to Llerena, Mónica’s home town, where her pious mother and unruly father await them expectantly. Don Andrés, the ailing patriarch of their ever-expanding family, welcomes the Englishman with open arms, while ...

THE GUEST’s visit to the author’s Spanish home was meant to be a carefree fortnight of work and leisure, but it didn’t turn out that way. Mike Rippon’s account of John Smith’s eventful stay is both humorous and harrowing, as his guest’s behaviour becomes increasingly odd. Undisputedly an expert golfer, John’s veiled tales of his life as a secret serviceman begin to strike a less than harmonic chord and Mike is soon counting down the days until his departure. John, however, is in no hurry to leave, and despite enlisting the help of his friends, Mike’s undoubted patience and ...

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 ...

When Mr Alec Quigley, superannuated insurance clerk, leaves the Bedfordshire bungalow of his indomitable niece Angela and makes his way to the Spanish village that he once read about in a history book, things are unlikely to go smoothly. A man with many foibles, not least his tendency to fantasise, his guardian Angela wants him home before he can get into any of the frequent scrapes that have dogged his – and, of late, her – existence. He is, however, intent on carving out a new life for himself in the Spanish interior and soon enlists the help of Fernando the fireman, Jorge the ...

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 ...

SPIKE IN SPAIN is the light-hearted story of a peculiar Lancastrian’s relocation to a small town at the foot of the Alicante mountains. An obsessive cyclist and the bane of his long-suffering wife’s life, Spike finds himself booted out of the family home and consigned to a grotty terraced house in Colne. Believing, incorrectly, that an old clubmate has invited him to stay at his Spanish retreat, a spell of lateral thinking by the cycling club president, Pete, leads to Spike’s flight to his old pal Mike’s house instead. As the charitable Mike has already rescued three donkeys and a ...

AN INNOCENT IN SPAIN is the light-hearted account of an unlikely expat’s first months in his new country. Ian Smith might not be the first tubby, middle-aged Englishman to arrive in a small Spanish town, but he’s certainly one of the poorest and most naive. Luckily for him, long-time resident Graham Baker is on hand to help him settle in and somehow survive on his meagre savings. After an initial, potentially calamitous blunder Ian appears to rally, but it’s only a matter of time before he finds himself in dire straits once again. Will he have to return to Lancashire, more penniless ...

CLIVE AND KEN, REMOVAL MEN is a humorous and touching tale about two friends who are reunited in Spain after over thirty years apart. Ken Bradshaw and Clive Ogden, alias Oglethorpe, were two teenagers in Ramsbottom when Clive was whisked off to prison, wrongly accused of pinching old Mrs Sutcliffe’s jewellery. Thirty-odd years later, Clive, now an art and antiques dealer, feels a burning desire to give his old mate a call, not least because he believes Ken to be the owner of a flourishing van rental business. Clive invites his long-lost pal to fly over to visit him in Spain, a meeting ...

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...

Claude Monet has been the icon for the impressionist movement. His family life wasn’t perfect, but despite all obstacles, the French genius painter has left us a legacy and a new perspective on realism and technique in their purest forms. In this guide, we’ll go over his youth, his style, his methods, his most famous paintings, and many of the reasons why he made the decisions he made.

Zinédine Zidane est le Français le plus célèbre au monde, mais qui est-il vraiment ? Un être secret qui cultive la discrétion, un homme adulé qui se préserve et protège les siens, une star au destin exceptionnel qui reste un type normal. A travers dix-huit années d'échanges et de confessions exclusives avec le joueur devenu entraîneur.

In an age where it was difficult to steer clear of a king's wrath and keep one's head for their entire life, Armand Jean du Plessis managed to become the power behind a king. The royal courts of 17th and 18th century France were famed for powerful and versatile Ministers like Talleyrand and the Comte de Vergennes, yet none have held as much sway like the man best known to the world today as Cardinal Richelieu.

Rok v Provenci je první částí volné trilogie vonící levandulí a chutnající po těch nejvybranějších lahůdkách a nejlepším víně. Chronologicky popisuje rok jednoho Brita, který se rozhodl přestěhovat do malé vesnice v malebné francouzské oblasti Provence. S anglickým humorem v jeho nejlaskavější podobě nás autor seznamuje s radostmi i úskalími života cizince, který se rozhodl uskutečnit svůj sen žít v místě, které dosud znal pouze jako turista. Kniha Rok v Provenci získala řadu ocenění, například British Book Awards pro rok 1989 za nejlepší cestopisnou knihu.

The most celebrated general in history, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) has for centuries attracted eminent male writers. Since Thomas Carlyle first christened him “our last Great Man”, regiments of biographers have marched across the same territory, weighing campaigns and conflicts, military tactics and power politics. With Napoleon, Ruth Scurr, one of our most eloquent and original historians, emphatically rejects the shibboleth of the “Great Man” theory of history, instead following the dramatic trajectory of Napoleon’s life through gardens, parks, and forests.

What was it like to be a citizen fighting the Nazis? Lucie Aubrac, of Catholic and peasant background, was teaching history in a Lyon school and had just married Raymond, a Jewish engineer, when World War II erupted and divided France. This is Lucie's harrowing account of her participation in the Resistance, when, though pregnant, she planned and took part in raids to free comrades - including her husband, under Nazi death sentence - from the prisons of the infamous "Butcher of Lyon," Klaus Barbie.

A delicious account of a murder most gallic - think CSI Paris meets Georges Simenon - whose lurid comibation of sex, brutality, forensics, and hypnotism riveted first a nation and then the world. Little Demon in the City of Light is the thrilling - and so wonderfully French - story of a gruesome 1889 murder of a lascivious court official at the hands of a ruthless con man and his pliant mistress and the international manhunt, sensational trial, and an inquiry into the limits of hypnotic power that ensued.

The thrilling story of the Bonnot Gang, a band of anarchist bank robbers whose crimes terrorized belle époque Paris, and whose escapades reflected the fast-paced, dizzyingly modern, and increasingly violent period on the eve of World War I. For six terrifying months in 1911-1912, the citizens of Paris were gripped by a violent crime streak. A group of bandits went on a rampage throughout the city and its suburbs, robbing banks and wealthy Parisians, killing anyone who got in their way, and always managing to stay one step ahead of the police.

The Man in the Iron Mask has all the hallmarks of a thrilling adventure story: a glamorous and all-powerful king, ambitious ministers, a cruel and despotic jailor, dark and sinister dungeons - and a secret prisoner. It is easy for forget that this story, made famous by Alexandre Dumas, is that of a real person, Eustache Danger, who spent more than 30 years in the prison system of Louis XIV’s France - never to be freed. This narrative brings to life the true story of this mysterious man and follows his journey through four prisons and across decades.

History celebrates George Washington as the leader of the American Revolution and the father of his country. But what has gone previously unexamined is Washington's life as a 22-year-old lieutenant colonel who led 400 American militiamen against a bigger, more experienced French army and paid a high price. Not only did Washington lose over a third of his men but the Battle of Great Meadows was also the spark that ignited the French and Indian War.

In many ways it is fitting that Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) is one of the best known figures of the French Revolution, if not its most famous. 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.