'With gloriously apposite facts and an abundance of quirky anecdotes and thumbnail sketches of people, places and customs, Robb, on brilliant form, takes us on a stunning journey through the historical landscape of France' - "Independent". Award-winning author Graham Robb is an expert on French literature and history. He is also a keen cyclist and has covered much of France by bike - racking up some fourteen thousand miles in the saddle, and discovering a very different country from that which is usually depicted in the guidebooks.'Certain books strain the patience of those close to you.
How many times can you demand: "Look at this! Can you imagine? Did you know that?" without actually handing over the volume? This is such a book' - "Mail on Sunday". 'Writing with humour but without condescension, with understanding but without naivety, Robb brilliantly reconstructs a world we have lost. There is hardly a page that does not contain a detail that is illuminating, surprising or entertaining, and often all three' - "Sunday Telegraph".'This splendid history of France mixes the rambling charm of a traveller with a scholar's rigorous research ...At once history, psychogeography, itinerary and cabinet of curiosities, "The Discovery of France" is an astute sociological catalogue of France's changing idea of itself' - "Daily Telegraph".
'Robb's concise and fast-paced writing pedals along with never a dull paragraph, as facts, events, characters and quotations flash by ...The British love affair with France makes this particular story special, and Robb, from his two-wheeled vantage point, has made a dazzling and moving contribution to a long tradition' - "Sunday Times". 'The reader is left hoping that Robb will hop back on his bike to explain how this rediscovered France evolved into the country it is today' - "Financial Times".