France — books & literature

The story of France

France's story begins in ancient Gaul, a patchwork of Celtic peoples conquered by Rome under Julius Caesar in the first century BCE and absorbed for some five hundred years into the Roman world. As Roman power faded, the Germanic Franks moved in, and in 843 the Treaty of Verdun split Charlemagne's empire, giving West Francia the shape from which France would grow. Through the Middle Ages the Capetian kings slowly gathered power, surviving the Hundred Years' War against England, in which Joan of Arc became a national symbol. Under monarchs like Louis XIV, the Sun King, France became the dominant power of Europe, its court at Versailles the model for the continent. The Revolution of 1789 overthrew the monarchy and proclaimed liberty, equality, and fraternity, ideals that reshaped the modern world. Napoleon Bonaparte, crowned emperor in 1804, spread its legal code across Europe before his fall. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries brought a cycle of republics, empires, and two devastating world wars fought largely on French soil. Today France is a founding member of the European Union and a global centre of art, thought, science, and letters, a republic that still carries the ideals born in 1789.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 52 BCE

   Julius Caesar completes the Roman conquest of Gaul at Alesia.

2. 843

   Treaty of Verdun divides Charlemagne's empire; West Francia becomes the seed of France.

3. 987

   Hugh Capet is crowned, founding the long-lived Capetian dynasty.

4. 1337-1453

   The Hundred Years' War with England; Joan of Arc rallies France.

5. 1643-1715

   Reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King; France dominates Europe from Versailles.

6. 1789

   The French Revolution begins; the monarchy is overthrown.

7. 1804

   Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.

8. 1958

   The Fifth Republic is established under Charles de Gaulle.

Top 10 things to know about France

1. Paris, the capital, is often called the "City of Light" for its early street lighting and Enlightenment fame.
2. The Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair, is one of the most visited monuments on Earth.
3. The Louvre is the world's largest and most visited art museum, home to the Mona Lisa.
4. France is the most visited country in the world by international tourists.
5. The 1789 Revolution gave the world the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".
6. French is an official language on all inhabited continents and a working language of the UN.
7. France has more Nobel Prizes in Literature than any other country.
8. French cuisine and its "gastronomic meal" are recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
9. The Tour de France is the world's most famous cycling race, held every July.
10. France is a founding member of the European Union and uses the euro as its currency.

Famous people from France

Say it in France's language

Did you know?

• ★France has more time zones than any other country — twelve — thanks to its overseas territories.
• ★The French Republic once used a decimal calendar with ten-day weeks after the Revolution.
• ★The metric system was created in France in the 1790s and is now used almost everywhere on Earth.

France culture

• Bastille Day on 14 July marks the storming of the Bastille and the Revolution.
• The long midday meal and café culture are central to daily French life.
• Wine, cheese, and bread — from baguettes to hundreds of regional cheeses — anchor the cuisine.
• France is the birthplace of cinema, with the Lumière brothers screening the first films in 1895.

Why read France's books

French literature is among the most decorated in the world, with more Nobel Prizes in Literature than any other nation and a lineage running from Montaigne and Molière to Hugo, Proust, and Camus. Reading France's books means reading ideas that shaped the modern world.