France in the New Century

John Ardagh is a very perceptive and cultured person. This book is an ideal reference if you want to find out about France and the French. Every country should have a book like this one written about it. This is serious reading coupled with just beautiful artistic writing.

I got Ardagh's book during a warehouse sale. I was interested about France then and saw this book and asked, why not? This book tells the story about modern French society from the view point of a guy who's lived through it for quite some time. The angles covered were political, economical, cultural and social. Quite interesting reading. However, I have to say this is the first book I've read about French society. So I can't compare it with other books of the same topic. However, if you want to know about modern French society without actually living in France for 10 or 20 years, I'd recomend this book, just to get a light grip of things over there. Finally, I have to say I've never been outside of my country's borders, so I wouldn't know how much of the book is true. But still...it's interesting. Also this book isn't about French history.