A fractious and fascinating country
From Caesar to Charlemagne
Building the nation: from Hugh Capet to Richelieu (987-1642)
Absolute monarchy: from Apogee (Louis XIV, ruled 1643-1715) to catastrophe (Louis XVI, ruled 1774-1792)
The French Revolution and Napoleon
An unstable era (1815-1870): monarchies, republic, and empire
The consolidation of the Third Republic in peace and war (1870-1918)
Decline and degradation: interwar and Vichy
Renewal and expansion: The Fourth Republic and de Gaulle's Fifth Republic
After de Gaulle: experimentation and consolidation (1969-1988)
France at the end of the twentieth century (1988-1999): crisis and renewal.
