Best French History

When the Nazis invaded and imprisoned his father, La Rochefoucauld escaped to England and learned the dark arts of anarchy and combat—cracking safes and planting bombs and killing with his bare hands—from the officers of Special Operations Executive, the collection of British spies, beloved by Winston Churchill, who altered the war in Europe with tactics that earned it notoriety as the “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” With his newfound skills, La Rochefoucauld returned to France and organized Resistance cells, blew up fortified compounds and munitions factories, interfered with Germans’ war-time missions, and executed Nazi officers. Like only the very best historical biographers, Paul Kix has turned years of deep reporting into a tightly coiled narrative that you never want to put down.” (Eli Saslow, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Ten Letters: The Stories Americans Tell Their President ). “Set in motion by a steamed-open letter and a burning hatred of Hitler, a dashing young aristocrat embarks on a campaign of clandestine warfare. The Saboteur sounds like a World War II spy thriller, but in fact it is a rip-roaring true story, wonderfully told by Paul Kix.” (Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and Lost in Shangri-La ). “This thoroughly sourced account is highly readable and effectively showcases the life of a fascinating, complex man whose too-little-known role in the Resistance will be of great interest to followers of WWII history.” ( Booklist ).

Winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award in Culinary History. Liebling was a great war correspondent, reporter, and humorist who opens Spring’s narrative by sweeping into Paris with the French and Allied forces in August 1944; Toklas was Gertrude Stein’s life partner who reinvented herself at age seventy-five as a cookbook author; Fisher was a sensualist storyteller and fabulist; Child was a cookbook author, America’s greatest television food celebrity, and the reinventor of the dinner party; Lichine was an ambitious wine merchant who, through an astounding series of risk-taking ventures, became the leading importer of French wines in America; and Olney was a reclusive but freewheeling artist who reluctantly evolved into one of the foremost American writers on French cuisine and French wine. The broad outline of Spring's thesis is so persuasive, the details so evocative (not to mention mouth watering), that anyone interested in the evolution of cooking in America will find The Gourmands' Way informative and indispensable." He is, at heart, an obsessed biographer who seems to have left no diary unopened, no letter unread, no manuscript unscrutinized.” ―Ruth Reichl, The New York Times Book Review. He has packed an enormous amount of material into this book, which is erudite, gossipy, entertaining and eminently readable." Weaving his way through their intriguingly intersected paths, Spring brings each of his six subjects (as well as a fair share of colorful side characters who orbit them) to life with psychological insight and a sharp focus on historical context, backing up his findings with meticulous, near-forensic research.” ―Daniel Isengart, Slate. "A deeply researched and vividly entertaining exploration of the lives of these six figures--some legendary, some lesser known--who together laid the foundation of America's relationship with French cuisine during the 30 years of French cultural and gastronomic flowering that followed the end of World War II . "On all counts [Justin Spring] succeeded―clear, confident, witty prose supported by robust research carries the day in this absorbing work . Spring's critical acumen and use of research help him achieve much more than the standard celebratory portraits of beloved figures . A loving portrait of food obsession and the people who liberated American cuisine from its provincial doldrums." His accounts of the publishing experiences of his subjects, including Alice B. Toklas’ comically horrifying collaboration with the author of The Can-. Opener Cookbook , are particularly fascinating." “In The Gourmands’ Way , Justin Spring brilliantly recounts the French odyssey of six remarkable Americans during the extraordinarily creative 30-year period from the end of World War II to the mid-1970s. So different and yet so similar, these heroes of mine―writers, gourmands and adventurers who were passionately curious about French cuisine, wines and lifestyle―immersed themselves in the culinary culture of Paris." “I recommend this book to anyone interested in gastronomy, but also in the idea of self-transcendence (no less), which is what I think the six protagonists were seeking and, in some cases, achieved. The Gourmands’ Way is an ideal match of subject and author: Justin Spring's knowledge of gastronomic culture is exhaustive, his storytelling skills unerring, and his grasp of human essences (for better and for worse) exquisitely exact. Perfectly paced, full of information yet intensely readable, The Gourmands’ Way defines a tradition of distinctively American hospitality, and that is a life-enhancing gift.” ―Phyllis Rose, author of Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages. The Gourmands’ Way delves deep into their gastronomic lives, which had a profound effect on how we now cook and eat in America today. This book brims with revelations and delicious drama; a fascinating story that any food lover will completely devour.”―David Lebovitz, author of L’Appart and My Paris Kitchen. “In The Gourmands’ Way , Justin Spring makes superb use of unpublished material and brilliantly portrays the experience of these post-World War II gastronomic pioneers. “A brilliant, informative and entertaining study of the cultural dialogue between American and French gastronomes in the years following World War II. The charm of Justin Spring’s book comes from the light touch with which he brings to life the literary and political background of the postwar years in France, his impeccable knowledge of all things culinary, and his talent for ferreting out the most telling and amusing anecdotes.” ―Anka Muhlstein, author of Balzac’s Omelette.

Based on interviews with hundreds of survivors and told by “a master narrator,” The Miracle of Dunkirk is a striking history of a week when the outcome of World War II hung in the balance (Arthur Schlesinger Jr.). Lord went on to use the book’s interview-heavy format as a template for most of his following works, which included detailed reconstructions of the Pearl Harbor attack in Day of Infamy (1957), the battle of Midway in Incredible Victory (1967), and the integration of the University of Mississippi in The Past That Would Not Die (1965).

More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket. When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his partner Trish, son Andy, and daughter Jackie.

The Normandy Battlefields details what can be seen on the ground today using a mixture of media to provide a complete overview of the campaign. In Bocage and Breakout, Leo Marriott and Simon Forty take the story forward as the success of the invasion continued into the Cotentin, with Cherbourg falling on 29 June, before it bogged down in face of determined German defense and the bocage countryside—innumerable small fields surrounded by hedgerows, each one hiding anti-tank weapons, mortars and machine guns. Three weeks later, the Battle of Normandy was over, the routed German Army—without most of its heavy weapons left in the Falaise Pocket or on the banks of the Seine—was retreating helter skelter back towards Germany and the Low Countries pursued by the Allies in a reverse of the 1940 Blitzkrieg campaign. “Messrs Forty and Marriott provide a seriously entertaining look at events in Normandy from ground level and all points upwards using the perfect mix of facts and dates aligned to genuinely excellent archive and modern photography. “For the sheer volume of information both textual and visual, this book is excellent value for money…as a work of reference it is invaluable and is strongly recommended to students of the NW Europe campaign.” ( Casemate Fortress Study Group ).

A Savage War of Peace is the definitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. "First the Pentagon plugged the movie, now President Bush is reading the book... A Savage War of Peace , British historian Alistair Horne's celebrated 1977 account of the [Algerian] war...Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who recommended A Savage War of Peace to Bush, said recently on PBS' Charlie Rose Show that he did not believe 'that the French experience could be applied precisely to the United States. "[T]he read of choice for many U.S. military officers serving in Iraq...[this] universally acclaimed history...should have been mandatory reading for the civilian and military leaders who opted to invade Iraq" — The Washington Times. “There is enough to make this the most complete history of the Algerian war yet written, one which will be indispensable for future historians. A “highly readable, toughly edited history that blends the pace and sweep of a work of fiction with a relentless pursuit of every main actor still alive and willing to talk about the war.”– The Washington Post Book World. “An accomplished historian of earlier French wars has written an admirably impartial, lucid and readable book…as full and objective a history of the Algerian war as we are likely to see for some years.” – The New York Times Book Review.

This first volume of Shelby Foote's classic narrative of the Civil War opens with Jefferson Davis’s farewell to the United Senate and ends on the bloody battlefields of Antietam and Perryville, as the full, horrible scope of America’s great war becomes clear. Whitman, who ultimately knew and loved the bravery and frailty of the soldiers, observed that the real Civil War would never be written and perhaps should not be. "Here, for a certainty, is one of the great historical narratives…a unique and brilliant achievement, one that must be firmly placed in the ranks of the masters. Whitman, who ultimately knew and loved the bravery and frailty of the soldiers, observed that the real Civil War would never be written and perhaps should not be.

Sixty of these works of art have been captured in brilliant color photographs for this book: the Hall of the States General at Blois, the Saumur and Angers fortresses, the picture-postcard castle of Azay-le-Rideau built in the middle of a river, and, impressive and shrouded in legend, the massive Chambord castle. He was vice-president of the National Commission for the Protection of Historic Buildings, and he is a member of the French Academy of Architecture in Paris.

This practical and knowledgeable guidebook deals comprehensively with the stone circles of Britain and Ireland and with the cromlechs and megalithic "horseshoes" of Brittany.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dordogne, Bordeaux & the Southwest Coast will lead you straight to the best attractions this beautiful part of the world has to offer. Taste the best vineyards, discover prehistoric cave paintings, and indulge in the flavors of Aquitaine's local produce and classic dishes. With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dordogne, Bordeaux & the Southwest Coast truly shows you this region as no one else can. "Known… for its four-color maps, photos and illustrations, the [DK] Eyewitness Guides are extremely user-friendly for travelers who want their information delivered in a concise, visual way."

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dordogne, Bordeaux & the Southwest Coast will lead you straight to the best attractions this beautiful part of the world has to offer. Taste the best vineyards, discover prehistoric cave paintings, and indulge in the flavors of Aquitaine's local produce and classic dishes. With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dordogne, Bordeaux & the Southwest Coast truly shows you this region as no one else can. "Known… for its four-color maps, photos and illustrations, the [DK] Eyewitness Guides are extremely user-friendly for travelers who want their information delivered in a concise, visual way."