Les Lieux de mémoire is perhaps one of the most profound historical documents on the history and culture of the French nation. Assembled by Pierre Nora during the Mitterand years, this multivolume series has been hailed as "a magnificent achievement" ( The New Republic ) and "the grandest, most ambitious effort to dissect, interpret and celebrate the French fascination with their own past" ( The Los Angeles Times ). Written during a time when French national identity was undergoing a pivotal change and the nation was struggling to define itself, this unprecedented series consists of essays by prominent historians and cultural commentators which take, as their points of departure, a lieu de mémoire : a site of memory used to order, concentrate, and secure notions of France's past. The first volume in the Chicago translation, Rethinking France, brings together works addressing the omnipresent role of the state in French life. As in the other volumes, the lieux de mémoire serve as entries into the French past, whether they are actual sites, political traditions, rituals, or even national pastimes and textbooks. Volume I: The State offers a sophisticated and engaging view of the French and their past through widely diverse essays on, for example, the château of Versailles and the French history of absolutism; the Code civil and its ordering of French life; memoirs written by French statesmen; and Charlemagne and his place in French history. Nora's authors constitute a who's who of French academia, yet they wear their erudition lightly. Taken as a whole, this extraordinary series documents how the French have come to see themselves and why. Contributors: Alain Guéry Maurice Agulhon Bernard Guenée Daniel Nordman Robert Morrissey Alain Boureau Anne-Marie Lecoq Hélène Himelfarb Jean Carbonnier Hervé Le Bras Pierre Nora This is an English translation of a major publishing enterprise begun in France during the Mitterand years. Bold, brilliant, and ambitious, it aims to write a new kind of history of France, one that is not political or social but cultural and intellectual. The guiding genius of this collective historical enterprise is Pierre Nora, director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, who has directed editorial work on this seven-volume project since 1984. The guiding technique of this series is the concept of a "lieu de m?moire." Although the term defies precise translation, it is used to mean individuals, institutions, places, and cultural phenomena that have shaped the way the past is remembered in the present. In this volume, Nora has assembled 11 essays written by some of France's most celebrated writers and intellectuals. The common theme is the notion of the state: how the French have come to see themselves politically and why. The essays touch on fascinating and unexpected topics like the changing image of Charlemagne, the image of the king over time, and the views of France presented in the memoirs of public men. This is an important book to be appreciated by scholars and specialists in the field and a strong complement to Pierre Birnbaum's The Idea of France (LJ 7/01). Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Les Lieux de mémoire is perhaps one of the most profound historical documents on the history and culture of the French nation. Assembled by Pierre Nora during the Mitterand years, this multivolume series has been hailed as a "magnificent achievement" ( New Republic ) and "the grandest, most ambitious effort to dissect, interpret and celebrate the French fascination with their own past" ( Los Angeles Times ). Written during a time when French national identity was undergoing a pivotal change and the nation was struggling to define itself, this unprecedented series consists of essays by prominent historians and cultural commentators which take, as their points of departure, a lieu de mémoire: a site of memory used to order, concentrate, and secure notions of France's past. The first volume in the Chicago translation, Rethinking France , brings together works addressing the omnipresent role of the state in French life. As in the other volumes, the lieux de mémoire serve as entries into the French past, whether they are actual sites, political traditions, rituals, or even national pastimes and textbooks. Volume I: The State offers a sophisticated and engaging view of the French and their past through widely diverse essays on, for example, the château of Versailles and the French history of absolutism; the Code civil and its ordering of French life; memoirs written by French statesmen; and Charlemagne and his place in French history. Nora's contributors constitute a who's who of French academia, yet they wear their erudition lightly. Taken as a whole, this extraordinary series documents how the French have come to see themselves and why. Les Lieux de mémoire is perhaps one of the most profound historical documents on the his