France On the Brink: A Great Civilization Faces a New Century

Average customer rating:

A Bulls-eye

Insanely biased. Parody, and little more.

Can the image of France be more black?

The best book on contemporary France

a reader writes

France On the Brink: A Great Civilization Faces a New Century
Jonathan Fenby
Manufacturer: Arcade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Unfulfilled Prime Minister: Tony Blair's Quest for a Legacy

Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000

Comparative Politics Today: A World View, Update Edition (8th Edition)

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong

ASIN: 1559705248

Amazon.com

Images of France frequently include smartly dressed Parisians; sidewalk cafés serving strong coffee and fresh pastries to elegantly clad, chain-smoking students; the rolling hills of Provence draped in lavender; and wizened farmers in berets selling freshly grown vegetables, cheese, and homemade bread at the local market. Or at least they used to. In France on the Brink, Jonathan Fenby depicts France as a modern nation far removed from the stereotypes of its past.

Fenby's introductory chapter presents a catalogue of France's virtues and contributions to culture over the centuries. He devotes the remainder of the book to debunking the French myth, examining what he perceives as its collision course with the realities of the 21st century. The 13 self-contained chapters analyze particular elements of French existence and illustrate how it arrived at its present stage of near collapse. Having spent 30 years either living in France or observing it as a journalist, Fenby commands a firm grasp of French life, politics, regional differences, and national mood. This expertise is illustrated by his breadth of analysis--of everything from baguettes to the National Front, from Mitterand to Bardot, from economics to agriculture.

Despite the pessimism implied by Fenby's title, he concludes his study on an optimistic note: He views the cohabitation between the Gaullist President Jacques Chirac and the socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin as a unique opportunity to lead a fresh revolution, one that embraces the modern world while preserving the best of the past. --Bertina Loeffler Sedlack

Customer Reviews:

A Bulls-eye.......2003-03-28

Fendy says up front that he is not a francophobe...hmmm. Whatever the case, this account is tough to refute. He spends most of his time stressing the dire outlook of France as the country builds another nuclear submarine, while neglecting basic social and economic questions. He also reveals what a crook the average French politician is, the embodiment of which was none other than Mr. Mitterand. Fenby also analyzes the results of the social/economic malaise in France, from the far right's xenophobia, to the widespread America bashing in the Hexagon. He points out that all McDonald's restaurants in France are LOCALLY owned, and that virtally all of the milk, spuds, and beef therein are FRENCH grown. Finally, he stresses that this chain employs 25000 (French) people in France (the French unemployment rate has not gone below 9% in over a decade). Jose Bove should read this before he sacks his next "McDo's".

Insanely biased. Parody, and little more........2002-08-13

This book will be of interest only to people who know little or nothing about this country. For the rest of us, Fenby's amazing religious and political bias borders on farce, and the text appears to be simply an extended harangue by someone with a pen who has various axes (yes, axes) to grind. The repeated references to "sober (i.e. good) Protestants" and "corrupt Catholics", and the constant plugging of socialist politics and leftist personalities at the expense of all others becomes extremely annoying -- unless one is a member of the pan-Anglo socialist movement, I believe. As far as the author's descriptions of depressed French villages and towns is concerned, one need only to travel through England's midlands or the U.S.'s rust belt to see considerably more severe examples of the same phenemenon.

As stated by others, the most interesting part of the book is a look at some recent government corruption scandals and political machinations. Unfortunately, the positives here are largely drowned out by the tone of the work; a tone that is really akin to something approaching nagging. Whatever your interest (or dis-interest) in this country, countless better introductions exist to France than this crap.

Can the image of France be more black?.......2002-04-15

This is the first time I've read a book whick criticizes a country so thoughly, from it's food, wine, history and customs to its politics and presidents. I'm a foreigner living in Paris for some years now, and I was looking for a book to help me understand better my adoptive country. I cannot say this was the right answer to my search.

In the first 10 to 15 pages, the author enlists all the good aspects of France in a comic sort of way. But from then on it's all downhill, right to the very bottom. The only part I found interesting and helpful was when the author switched to politics. Yes, the author is still pesimist in this part as well, but I have never read anything optimistic about this subject anyway.

Yes, France has its problems. Yes, Frenchpeople adore to whine all the time. But from that to say that France's "on the brink", I think this is a big overstatement. I'm actually having trouble trying to remember something the author didn't criticize. At the end, I got the impression that eventhough he tried, he wasn't objective. Thoughout the book, he was always an Englishman writing about France (Englishman, not foreigner, big difference) always comparing her to "perfect and greater" USA or "perfect and greater" Britain. As if these two countries didn't have their particular problems as well.

If I had taken this book seriously, I would be packing my bags and moving out of the country just after finishing writing this review. But since France is a great country and deserves more appreciation, I will tear the book in half, keep the politics part and throw the rest to the wastebasket and continue looking for a rather balanced book describing both positive and negative aspects of this country.

The best book on contemporary France.......2000-02-16

Jonathan Fenby's "France on the Brink" is the best overview in English of modern-day France, surpassing even Richard Bernstein's "Fragile Glory" (1990), which also is excellent. As a confirmed Francophile, I found that the book skimps a little on some of the qualities that make the country a great place to visit -- such as its food and wine, its efficient public transportation, its superb museums and historic preservation, the warmth of its people (outside Paris at least!), and the beauty and sheer diversity of its landscapes. On the other hand, the book provides a wealth of detail on some of the country's major ills, above all its increasing xenophobia, uncompetitive industries and corrupt, shoddy politics.

It is in the political arena that Fenby is really in his element, and he has hardly a kind word for any of the men and women who have run France since de Gaulle, most of whom he seems to have met face-to-face as a reporter. In Fenby's portrait, payoffs, favoritism, cronyism, sexual intrigue and even violence seem to be business as usual among France's political class, most of whom seem to be interested more in status and luxurious living than in making the country a better place. Fenby's key point is that it is the politicians rather than their usual scapegoats -- immigrants, foreign influences, or the uniting of Europe -- who deserve most of the blame for pushing the country to "the brink"; yet Fenby is hopeful that France will survive and continue to be both a cultural beacon and a significant player in world affairs.

a reader writes.......1999-12-24

ohndaly@x-stream.co.uk from London, UK , 6 June, 1999 , 5 out of 5 stars Absolutely superb Authoritative, highly readable, well informed and packed with thought provoking facts and statistics. An impressive and dispassionate account as any I have read on France, particularly so for a non native. A must for anyone wishing to settle in France, or have a greater understanding of the country and its recent history.

Average customer rating:

Lily B. on the Brink of Paris (Lily B.)
Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Adventure & Thrillers | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0060839481
Release Date: 2006-12-12

Book Description

Mulgrew Middle School Summer Trip to Paris

Madame Chavotte:
French Teacher and Chaperone.
Built like a tank, with only one eyebrow.

Charlotte McGrath:
Vault of European Information.
In Command of All Details.

Bonnie Roberts:
Astral Traveler and Channeler of Messages from the Universe.

Janet Graham:
Obsessed with All That Is French.
Insists on pronouncing own name Jah-nay.

Lewis Pilsky:
Computer God. Walking Pillar of Geekdom.

Bud and Chaz:
The Football Guys.
Heads suspiciously jar shaped.

Tim:
Last name unknown.
To everyone's knowledge, has never spoken.

And, of course . . .

Lily B.:
Self-Appointed Official Diarist of the Trip and Writer Extraordinaire.

Toward the Brink, 1785-1787 (Age of the French Revolution, Vol 4)

Average customer rating:

Toward the Brink, 1785-1787 (Age of the French Revolution, Vol 4)
Claude Manceron
Manufacturer: Touchstone Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0671680226

Average customer rating:

On the Brink : The Trouble with France
Jonathan Fenby
Manufacturer: Time Warner Books UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

The Wall of the Plague
Andre Brink
Manufacturer: Faber and Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

Helping to research her lover's film on the great plague, Andrea returns to Provence. Travelling with Mandia, a fellow South African and Black activist, helps Andrea put into perspective the more hedonistic elements of her new life. As the story unfolds in a landscape evoked with a breathtaking mastery, Andrea and Mandia confront the uneasy relationships which develop between themselves and their lovers. Their difficulties form an allegory for those faced by two disparate continents, as they undertake the process of reconciling Europe's past and Africa's present.

Dancing on the brink of the world: The rise and fall of San Francisco society

Average customer rating:

Dancing on the brink of the world: The rise and fall of San Francisco society
Frances Moffat
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

L'internationale de la haine: Paroles d'extreme droite, Belgique, France, Italie (Collection "Internationale")

Average customer rating:

L'internationale de la haine: Paroles d'extreme droite, Belgique, France, Italie (Collection "Internationale")
Rinke van den Brink
Manufacturer: Vent du Nord, Vent du Sud
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Nonfiction | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All French Books | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

French | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 2930088141

Average customer rating:

Robespierre and the Red Terror
Jan ten Brink
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

History | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Australia & Oceania | History | Historical Reproductions | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1402138296
Release Date: 2004-08-05

Product Description

Translated by J. Hedeman. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1899 edition by Hutchinson & Co., London.

Average customer rating:

Dancing on the Brink of the World
Frances Moffat
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQIF8U

Housing policy directions based on a review of environmental design research: A comparative study of housing policies for the elderly in Canada, the United States, Sweden and France

Average customer rating:

Housing policy directions based on a review of environmental design research: A comparative study of housing policies for the elderly in Canada, the United States, Sweden and France
S Brink
Manufacturer: Construction Division, Ministry of Construction, Housing Management of Territories and Transportation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

While the debate about gene technology rages, this book explores its applications and implications. The author, a well-known Australian botanist, is already credited with several previous books on both academic and popular topics in plant science.

Book Description

This book discusses the nature of meiotic chromosome pairing effects which may play a role in the determination of fertility. In particular, data and illustrations from the application of recently developed electron microscopic spreading techniques will allow researchers in related fields to come to grips with the recent advances in the cytogenetics of meiotic chromosome pairing behavior. Topics dealt with include meiotic and synaptonemal complex behavior in humans and mice with a variety of chromosomal and genetic abnormalities, sex chromosome pairing in mammals and birds, the significance for fertility or pairing in mammals and birds, the significance for fertility of XY pairing and crossing over, the effects of hybridity on pairing and fertility in plants, and the genetic control of synaptonemal complex formation and crossing over in polyploids. This is a timely reference book for graduate level medical and veterinary students, and scientists in the field of genetics and cell biology.

Chromosome pairing and fertility in hybrids and amphidiploids in the Triticinae (Research bulletin / University of Missouri, Agricultural Experiment Station)

Average customer rating:

Chromosome pairing and fertility in hybrids and amphidiploids in the Triticinae (Research bulletin / University of Missouri, Agricultural Experiment Station)
E. R Sears
Manufacturer: University of Missouri, College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

Analytical techniques are powerful tools in a chemist's armoury. Spectroscopic data and chemical information are used routinely in laboratories to follow a chemical reaction or elucidate a chemical structure. However, the sophistication of the analytical techniques used changes rapidly, hence the routinely used method of today can all too readily be superseded by the new technology of tomorrow. More Modern Chemical Techniques identifies some applications of the important chemical techniques in use today that are less well known in schools and colleges and which illustrate how chemistry is using state -of-the-art technology to push back the frontiers of the subject. Examples include: elemental analysis such as atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma techniques; separations including electrophoresis, structure determination (eg x-ray diffraction and optical microscopy); and sampling and sample preparation.

Book Description

The new edition will continue to be of use to engineers in industry and technological establishments, especially as brief reviews are included on many important aspects of Turbomachinery, giving pointers towards more advanced sources of information. For readers looking towards the wider reaches of the subject area, very useful additional reading is referenced in the bibliography. The subject of Turbomachinery is in continual review, and while the basics do not change, research can lead to refinements in popular methods, and new data can emerge.
This book has applications for professionals and students in many subsets of the mechanical engineering discipline, with carryover into thermal sciences; which include fluid mechanics, combustion and heat transfer; dynamics and vibrations, as well as structural mechanics and materials engineering.

* An important, long overdue new chapter on Wind Turbines, with a focus on blade aerodynamics, with useful worked examples
* Includes important material on axial flow compressors and pumps
* Example questions and answers throughout and an available Solutions Manual

Customer Reviews:

I hope you have his phone number.......2006-11-18

This was the worst book on rotating machinery that I ever picked up. Hard to follow and poorly organized, perhaps designed for the intended course work, I would not recommend that it as any reference value.
His flat theory also neglects changes in units. Which he uses outside of his own definitions in the prologue.

A very complete textbook.......2000-10-29

We were asked to buy this book by a teacher, it was certainly a good choice, perhaps the information given is too dense but I did enjoy studying with it.

It's a good reference book for undergraduate student........1999-08-05

I will send you after my revie

Book Description

In this beautiful book, an eminent authority on Homeric texts takes us on a tour of the main localities in the Iliad and Odyssey. Drawing on photographs of the terrain as well as the texts themselves, J.V. Luce argues that Homer's descriptions of the ancient landscape, far from being poetic fantasies, are accurate in every essential detail.

Customer Reviews:

Good in parts but badly bound.......2003-02-05

This book is useful in that it gives a history of site identification from the Hellenistic period onwards, and a good review of archaeological surveys at Troy up to the 1990s.

Much of the book is devoted to proving that the Greek camp was not on the shores of the Hellespont but to the south-west of Troy.

Many photos are just too small for their purpose. For instance, the critical view of Samothrace beyond Imbros ought to have been photographed with a telescopic lens to make the point.

Although the book is a "hardcover" the pages are not sewn in but glued like a paperback. The spine was broken - and the pages loose - on the public library copy that I read. I wouldn't buy the book for this reason alone.

A vibrant argument for the reality of Homer's Troy.......2002-11-13

J.V. Luce's "Celebrating Homer's Landscapes: Troy and Ithaca Revisited" is a vibrant presentation of his contention that Homer was personally familiar with the geographical realities of the primary settings of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Luce supports his theory by a detailed examination of the landscape (and sea) of Troy and Ithaca in ancient times (both in the Thirteenth Century BCE when the Trojan War probably occurred and also in the Eighth Century BCE when Homer most likely composed his great poems) and at the present day. In so doing, Luce takes cognizance of archaeological studies of recent years, notably the work done at Troy by Manfred Korfmann who has demonstrated to the satisfaction of most that extent of Bronze Age Troy was much greater than walled citadel located on the mound of Hisarlik identified over a century ago. Strong arguments are presented that the words of Homer accurately present a picture of physical reality, right down to small geographical features such as the "swelling of the plain" in front of Troy and the "crag of the ravens" on Ithaca. And in arguing for his case that Homer walked the ground he would later describe, Luce also presents a persuasive case that, in the case of the Trojan War at any rate, Homer was also describing events firmly rooted in history. Luce's analysis of the location of the Greek camp is especially noteworthy in this regard. The volume is well illustrated by numerous excellent photographs taken by the author.

For anyone intrigued by Homer's poems and the historical events behind them, Luce's book should be on their "must have" list.

If you Love Homer -- BUY THIS BOOK.......2002-05-03

This book is a treasure. And no reader of the Iliad or the Odyssey (or indeed lover of classical Greek culture) should be without it. It is an easy read. It is amply illustrated. There are good maps and wonderful photographs.

Luce's thesis is that Homer had actually visited the places he wrote about in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Luce writes to counteract what he refers to as the trend ro regard Homeric accounts of landscape and locality as "poetic constructions". Luce's states that firmly believes Homer's paramount concern with respect to local description was "truth to life".

His point is that Homer's various descriptions accord with the ACTUAL landscape one would have seen had one been standing where the narrator of the view stood. And because there is such concordance, it means that either Homer himself or people he had spoken to must have stood, for example, where Helen stood when she gazed out over the marshalling of the Greek troops. Or have seen the "twin sources...of the Scamander." Luce believes he has actually found these two pools.

A truly astonishing example of this is the concordance between the "Homeric topography" of Hera's journey from Mount Olympus to Mount Ida and "real world topography". The point that needs to be made here is that the ancient Greeks has extraordinarily crude maps -- it wasn't as though Homer could rely on a map for his geography - he needed to have BEEN there.

Luce documents his thesis in extraordinary detail with reference to Homer, ancient writers, more recent commentators and archeological finds. He includes many many excerpts from Homer -- translated with startling beauty by himself. Luce himself visited virtually every single site he writes about and some of the most compelling evidence lies often in his own photographs. Most of these photographs are in gorgeous colour and my one regret is that this book was not coffee-table sized. It should have been.

Luce's major task is to make the case for modern day Hisarlik as the site of ancient Troy. And this occupies a central portion of the work. But considerable attention is spent on Ithica and Odysseus journey's as well.

What shines out through all of this is Luce's love of his subject. I must confess that at times I felt the thesis became strained as he sought to fit even the most unlikely Homeric descriptions into the geography of Greece and Turkey. But any reservations became quickly banished with the turn of a page.

After reading this book, you will start planning your trip. Indeed this book could become a vertiable vacation planner. Buy it.

A user-friendly argument for the identity of Homeric sites........1999-03-25

Amply illustrated with photos and maps, Luce's book updates the archaeological and literary arguments for the identification of sites in and around Priam's Troy and Odysseus' Ithaca. The author reviews the history of the speculations about Troy and Ithaca, following a largely chronological pattern, from earliest visits by the likes of Strabo to the often romantic but fiercely held opinions of students of Homer to the theories and excavation reports of modern, scientific archaeologists. He then adds his own first-hand observations from visits to the sites, as well as the results of his sifting through the Homeric poems and the research of other scholars. The result is a lively and readable evocation (a "celebration, indeed) of the terrain described in the epics, covering such specifics as exactly where Achilles might have chased Hector during their final duel, where Eumaeus the swineherd's hut was, where the suitors anchored in their ambush of Telemachus, and just where Andromache and Hector were standing when Hector prayed for a heroic future for his infant son. Luce hypothesizes that the poet Homer was himself a visitor to these sites, and throughout the book assumes Homer's descriptions to be factual until proven otherwise. Although I believe that the oral tradition could have provided Homer the kind of details Luce claims must have come from the poet's own visit, nevertheless I found the author's conclusions persuasive, and the getting there a terrific review of a centuries-old treasure hunt. This book offers a good basis for a visit to the Homeric sites, which is what prompted me to read it, or excellent background for students or teachers of the Homeric epics.

CELEBRATING HOMER`S LANDSCAPES Troy and Ithaca Revisited

Average customer rating:

CELEBRATING HOMER`S LANDSCAPES Troy and Ithaca Revisited
J. V. Luce
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORX37Q

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books