Mission to Civilize: The French Way

by Mort Rosenblum

Characterizes the French way of seeing the world and probes the effects of France's age-old ability to fashion itself as a civilizing force

Genres: History, France, Politics

470 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Stephen Chase]

The greatest audiobook about France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Dave]

3 stars just barely. Rosenblum was a journalist, and I always tend to think that journalist's are great at getting at the 'atmosphere' of things. The first few chapters are engaging and informative in this style as he tries to get at what being French means with anecdotes here and there. Then most of the rest of the book is a history of France. Here is where he falters badly. Out of his depth, his chapters feel like slightly expanded textbook summaries. Gone is his sense of being light on his feet. He slogs through, and it's not entertaining or particularly informative. I ended up skimming quite a bit.

Still, the first few chapters are really fun and illuminating, and worth your time.

[Gita Madhu]

I looked forwards to finding lots of information on facts and gossip about France as a coloniser. However, I ended up knowing more about the author. He manages to insert himself all over the place.
A pity!

[Miroku Nemeth]

Interesting discussion of the consequences of French colonialism... part travel log, part history lesson.