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History of France

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A Captivating Guide to French History (European Countries)

If you want to discover the influential and captivating history of France, then read on…

Free History BONUS Inside!

France has influenced the course of history in Europe and the world for centuries. France is considered one of the world’s most beautiful countries. It is home to some of the world’s most visited tourist locations. France has enthralled and fascinated the people who’ve discovered its allure. In many ways, the history of France encompasses both the good and bad in the human character.

The French have rightly prided themselves on their food, fashion, painting, sculpture, theater, films, and literature, among much else. The names Escoffier, Saint-Laurent, Monet, Rodin, Moliere, Truffaut, and Voltaire are known throughout the world. The famous Eiffel Tower is a symbol of France. It is recognized by people even in the most remote places of the globe. However, there is so much more to the history of France than escargot, wine, Impressionism, and movies. In this book, you’ll learn the history of France and of the French. Their history is one of the most fascinating. It is also frightening and inspiring.

In History of France: A Captivating Guide to French History, you will discover topics such as:

  • The simple facts about France—its population, economy, and geography
  • The surprisingly advanced world of the Gauls and their famous leader Vercingetorix, who waged a bloody war against the Romans and Julius Caesar
  • The great emperor Charlemagne, who created the largest and strongest military and the greatest empire after the fall of Rome and who was also the first “Holy Roman
  • The legendary Joan of Arc, the teenager who victoriously inspired the armies of France against the English in the 15th century
  • The amazing world of Louis XIV and his beautiful and grandiose Palace of Versailles
  • The bloody, inspiring struggle for freedom that was the French Revolution and how it still influences revolutions and politics today
  • The brilliant Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican-born “foreigner” who built an empire using the force of his will and who was ahead of his time, enacting military tactics that are still studied today in military academies around the world
  • The tragic Franco-Prussian War and how it led to the bloody wars of the 20th century in Europe
  • France’s brave role in World War I
  • The tragedy of WWII, the French Resistance, and collaboration
  • The internal struggles of France since the end of the Second World War
  • And much more!

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The Captain

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The Journey of Derek Jeter

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
“Derek Jeter is undoubtedly the most talked about, argued about, cheered, booed and ultimately respected baseball player of his generation. And as public a figure as he has been, he is in many ways the least known. That changes now. Ian O’Connor, one of the best sports writers anywhere, goes deep. He does what no one has quite been able to do: Tell us a bit about who Derek Jeter really is.”—Joe Posnanski, author of The Machine
“Deftly told.”—The Washington Post

In The Captain, Ian O’Connor draws on unique access to Derek Jeter. He conducts more than 200 new interviews. These interviews reveal how a biracial kid from Michigan became New York’s most beloved sports figure. This kid became the face of the steroid-free athlete.
O’Connor takes us behind the scenes of a legendary baseball life. He starts with Jeter’s early struggles in the minor leagues. During this time, homesickness and errors threatened a stillborn career. Then, O’Connor covers the heady days of Yankee superiority and nightlife. Finally, he examines the battles with former best friend A-Rod.
All along the way, Jeter has made his Hall-of-Fame destiny look easy. But behind that leadership and hero’s grace there are hidden struggles and complexities that have never been explored, until now.

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Year of the Pitcher

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Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age

The story of the remarkable 1968 baseball season. “Seldom does an era, and do sports personalities, come alive so vividly, and so unforgettably.” —The Boston Globe

In 1968, two remarkable pitchers would dominate the game as well as the broadsheets. One was black, the other white. Bob Gibson, together with the St. Louis Cardinals, embodied an entire generation’s hope for integration at a heated moment in American history. Denny McLain was a crass self-promoter. He eschewed the team charter. He abandoned his Detroit Tigers teammates to zip cross-country in his own plane. For one season, the nation watched as these two men played remarkably. Their teams swept their respective league championships. They met at the World Series. Gibson set a major league record that year with a 1.12 ERA. McLain won more than 30 games in 1968, a feat not achieved since 1934 and untouched since. Together, the two have become iconic symbols. They gave the fans “The Year of the Pitcher.” Their performances changed the game. This is the story of a great sports rivalry. It evokes a nostalgic season and its incredible characters. It provides an indelible portrait of the national pastime during a turbulent year. It also tells about the two men who electrified fans from all walks of life.

“Explores so much more than the battle between two pitchers and their teams . . . A fine history of a vital period in the history of not only baseball, but America.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A compelling tale of all that America was in the turbulent year of 1968, told through a (mostly) baseball prism.” —New York Post

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They Bled Blue

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Fernandomania, Strike-Season Mayhem, and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had Ever Seen: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers

“A skillful mixture of biographies, on-field action, and behind-the-scenes baseball politics in a story with a happy ending for Dodgers fans.” —Kirkus Reviews
The award–winning author of Dynastic, Fantastic, Bombastic and The Baseball Codes delivers a sprawling, mad tale of excess. The tale brims with exuberance. These events could only have occurred in that place, at that time.
The team achieved an unlikely World Series win. This happened during a campaign split by the longest player strike in baseball history. Yet, this is not even the most interesting thing about this team. The Dodgers were led by the garrulous Tommy Lasorda. He was part manager and part cheerleader. Tommy unyieldingly proclaimed devotion to the franchise. He did this through monologues about bleeding Dodger blue. He also declared worship for the “Big Dodger in the Sky.” His office hosted a regular stream of Hollywood celebrities. Steve Garvey, the All-American, All-Star first baseman, had anchored the most durable infield in major league history. He was glaringly aware that 1981 would represent the end of their run. He knew this along with Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey. The season’s real story was unexpected. It featured a chubby lefthander, almost straight out of Mexico, who was only twenty years old. He had a wild delivery and a screwball as his flippin’ out pitch. The Dodgers had tried for decades to find a Hispanic star to connect with the local Mexican population. Fernando Valenzuela was the first to succeed. Fernandomania quickly spread far beyond the boundaries of Chavez Ravine.
They Bled Blue is the rollicking yarn of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ crazy 1981 season.

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Crazy ’08

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How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History

From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance’s boast is manifest. These days, people question when the Cubs will ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, however, no one would have laughed. The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball’s greatest team. They were the first dynasty of the 20th century.

Crazy ’08 recounts the 1908 season. This was the year when Peerless Leader Frank Chance’s men went toe to toe with John McGraw. They also faced Christy Mathewson’s New York Giants. They also faced Honus Wagner’s Pittsburgh Pirates in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The American League had its own three-cornered pennant fight. Players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, and Walter Johnson stood out. Even the egregiously crooked Hal Chase ensured that the junior circuit had its moments. But it was the National League’s—and the Cubs’—year.

Crazy ’08, however, is not just the exciting story of a great season. It is also about the forces that created modern baseball, and the America that produced it. In 1908, crooked pols run Chicago’s First Ward, and gambling magnates control the Yankees. Fans regularly invade the field to do handstands or argue with the umps; others shoot guns from rickety grandstands prone to burning. There are anarchists on the loose and racial killings in the town that made Lincoln. On the flimsiest of pretexts, General Abner Doubleday becomes a symbol of Americanism. Baseball’s own anthem, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” is a hit.

1908 is a picaresque and dramatic season. So many weird and wonderful things happen that it is somehow unsurprising. A hairpiece plays a role in its outcome. So does a swarm of gnats. A sudden bout of lumbago also contributes. Additionally, a disaster down in the mines impacts the result. And sometimes the events are not so wonderful at all. There are several deaths by baseball. The shadow of corruption creeps closer to the heart of baseball. This threatens the honesty of the game itself. Simply put, 1908 is the year that baseball grew up.

Oh, and it was the last time the Cubs won the World Series.

Destined to be as memorable as the season it documents, Crazy ’08 sets a new standard for what a book about baseball can be.

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