A New History of French Literature

The book is very interesting and very well written. It is composed of individual articles and essays rather than chapters, which makes it very refreshing. In this book, French Literature is placed in its historical, political, social, and philosophical context. This approach allows the reader to make more sense of the authors as well the texts. Literature is also viewed in the context of other artistic manifestations as well as in its different media. The only downside that I found is that, since the book does not aim to be exhaustive, some authors do not seem to find their place in it, Duras and Yourcenar for example.