Theodore Zeldin - The French

Theodore Zeldin is a Fellow of St Antonys College, Oxford. His two-volume history, France 18481945 (1973, 1977), received international acclaim: The Times called it brilliant, original, entertaining and inexhaustible; Paris Match said that it was the most perspicacious, the most deeply researched, the liveliest and the most enthralling panorama of French passions. His other books include the novel Happiness (1988). Theodore Zeldin has been awarded the Wolfson Prize and figures on Magazine Littraires list of the hundred most important thinkers in the world today.

FRANCE 18581945

(Oxford History of Modern Europe):

I. AMBITION, LOVE AND POLITICS

II. INTELLECT, TASTE AND ANXIETY

HAPPINESS

In place of footnotes, I give here a selection of the works to which I am particularly indebted, and which may help readers to pursue in greater detail subjects I have been able to touch on only briefly.

How the French see themselves:

Jean-Daniel Reynaud and Yves Grafmeyer, Franais, qui tes-vous? (1981); Grard Vincent, Les Jeux franais: essai sur la socit moderne (1978); Henri Mendras, La Sagesse et le dsordre: France 1980 (1980); Alain Peyrefitte, Le Mal franais (1976); Bernard Cathelat, Les Styles de vie des Franais 19781998 (1977); Emmanuel Todd, Le Fou et le proltaire (1979); Grard Marin, Les Nouveaux franais (1967); Jean-Pierre El Kabbach, Actuel 2 (1973).

Public opinion surveys and statistics:

R. Muraz, La Parole aux franais: cinq ans de sondages 19727 (1977); P. Miler, Les Franais tels quils sont. La fameuse enqute I.F.O.P. France-Soir (1975); Janick Arbois and Joshka Schidlow, La Vrai vie des Franais (1978); Gilles Vallet, Les Franais sur le vif (1979); SOFRES, LOpinion franaise en 1977 (1978); Grard Vincent, Les Franais 194575 (1977) varied statistics; Herv Le Bras and Emmanuel Todd, LInvention de la France (1981); Donnes Sociales (annual official statistics), and the numerous official publications of the Documentation franaise.

Relations with foreigners:

US Dept of Commerce: France. A Study of the International Travel Market (1978); Robert J. Shepherd, Public Opinion and European Integration (1975); Robert Mengin, La France vue par ltranger (1971); Jean Plumyene and Raymond Lasierra, Ces Drles de voisins... ce que les Suisses, les Espagnols, les Allemands pensent des Franais... (1979); Sylvaine Marandon, LImage de la France dans lAngleterre Victorienne (1967).

Humour and insults:

Abraham Roback, Dictionary of International Slurs (ethnophaulisms), (Cambridge, Mass. 1979); Patrick Boumard, Les Gros mots des enfants (1979); Nancy Huston, Dire et interdire. Elments de jurologie (1980); Claude Gaignebet, Le Folklore obscne des enfants (1974); Robert Escarpit, LHumour (1960); F. Baldensperger, Etudes dhistoire littraire (1907), chapter on les Dfinitions de lhumour; Frderic Delanglade, 40 Portraits dhumoristes (n.d.); Joel Sadeler, LHumour en branches (1979); Antony J. Chapman and H. C. Foot, Its a Funny Thing, Humour (Oxford 1977); Robert Benayoun, Le Nonsense de L. Carroll W. Allen (1978); James C. Austin, American Humor in France (Ames, Iowa 1978); Walter Blair and Hamlin Hill, Americas Humor (N.Y. 1978); Joseph Boskin, Humor and Social Change in 20th century America (Boston 1979); Jesse Bier, The Rise and Fall of American Humor (NY 1968); M. A. Burnier and P. Rambaud, Parodies (1977); Jean-Bruno Renard, La Bande dessine (1978); Numa Sadoul, Portraits la plume et au pinceau (Grenoble 1976); Bruno Lecigne, Avanies et Mascarade: LEvolution de la Bande Dessine en France dans les annes 70 (1981); Jean Egen, La Bande Charlie (1976); Claude-Jean Philippe, Ren Goscinny (1976); Georges Wolinski, Les Penses (1981); On ne connait pas notre bonheur (1980); A bas lamour copain (1980); Lettre ouverte ma femme (1978); Cest dur dtre patron (1978), etc.; P. Bouvard, Un oursin dans le caviar (1973); Et si je disais tout (1977); Tous des hypocrites (1979); Guy Bedos, Je Craque (1976); En attendant la bombe (1980); Roger Pierre, Raconte, raconte (1977); Roger Pierre and J. M. Thibault, Cest pour rire (1974); Tim, LAutocaricature (1974); Fernand Renaud, Heureux! (1975); Mina and Andr Guillois, A lcole du rire (1974); Jean Effel, La Cration du Monde (4 vols. 1974 paperback); Sin, Dans Charlie Hebdo (1982); Coluche, La France plie en quatre (1981); Jean Egen, Le Canard Enchain (1978); Andr Stoll, Astrix (Koln, 1974, French translation 1976); Maurice Horn, World Encyclopedia of Comics (1976); Cabu, Le Grand Duduche (1972 ff. in several volumes), La France des Beaufs (1979); G. Lauzier, Les Cadres (1981), La Course du Rat (1978); G. Elgozy, on French humour in Magazine littraire (July-August 1979); Schtroumpf: les cahiers de la bande dessine (periodical); Carton: les cahiers du dessin dhumour (periodical); and other comic strip books too numerous to list here.

Some books on regionalism:

Christian Gras and Georges Livet, Rgions et rgionalisme en France du 18. sicle nos jours (1977); Alain Greilsammer, Les Mouvements fderalistes en France de 1945 1974 (1975); John Ardagh, A Tale of Five Cities (1979); La Bretagne et les Bretons (1978); M. Philipponneau, Debout Bretagne (1970); Pierre-Jakez Helias, The Horse of Pride, Life in a Breton Village (New Haven, 1978); Yann Foure, Ces Droits que les autres ont (Les Cahiers de lavenir de la Bretagne, nos 6 and 7, Quimper 1979); Yves Barelli et al., LEsprance occitane (1980); Ren Merle, Culture occitane per avancar (1977); Mireille Bras, Petit livre de lenseignement occitan (Carcassonne 1980); Rmy Pech, Entreprise viticole et capitalisme en Languedoc-Roussillon (Toulouse 1975); Alain Alcouffe et al., Pour lOccitanie (1979); Bernard Cohen and Gilbert Paulat, Strasbourg entre le muse et loubli (1980); Etudes Corses (periodical); Gaston Casanova, Pour une Corse franaise (1980).

On the physical appearance of French people:

Biomtrie Humaine (periodical); P. B. Everett and J. M. Tanner, World-wide Variation in Human Growth (1976); NASA, A Handbook of Anthropometric Data (Yellow Springs, Ohio 1978); A. E. Mourant, The Distribution of Human Blood Groups (Oxford 1976); Desmond Morris, Gestures (1979); Laurence Wylie, Beaux Gestes: A Guide to French Body Talk (Cambridge, Mass 1977) and article in Psychologie (Dec. 1976), 914; CEHTI, Survey of French Women (1970s); Berlei Anthropometric Survey (1979); P. A. Gloor and J. Houdaille, La Couleur des yeux, in Annales (July 1976); G. Ignazi, Diffrenciation et correlation de caractres morphologiques et mentaux dans un groupe de jeunes franais, Biomtrie Humaine (vol. 6, 1971) on the different heights, weights and sizes of heads of students studying different subjects: e.g. literature students are taller, but have smaller heads; Alain Charraud and H. Valdelivre, Le taille et le poids des Franais,