Good race through French history, bad narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes, if you want a reasonable overview of French history without too much detail or analysis.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tristan Bernays’s performances?

No. I found the narration irritating, especially in terms of the pronunciation of French words. Vowel sounds in particular were routinely butchered, and the narrator sounded like he was taking a deep breath and a run up before attempting a French word, often pausing momentarily after each one as though to savour his safe landing at the other end. It should have been possible to find someone who knew how to pronounce the language. Apart from this, he lacked the gravitas for the subject, IHMO. I didn't feel he knew anything about history.

Any additional comments?

The book gets more detailed as it goes on, and so is somehwat lopsided in its coverage. The pre-20th century century sections are dealt with fairly summarily (not a criticism, since the book is only 11 or so hours long anyway) whereas the postwar period is discussed in a lot more detail (up to Sarkozy). For example, the revolutions of 1830 and 1848 seemed to get about as much mention as the French car and aerospace industries.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

Great potential but...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Narrator's pronunciation of French names poor.

What was most disappointing about Cecil Jenkins’s story?

See above

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Tristan Bernays?

Anyone who can pronounce French words with a decent accent.

Could you see A Brief History of France being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

No.

Any additional comments?

Has potential and has a good balance of historical fact and the inevitable goriness through the ages. One additional massacre to mention is that of the French language by the narrator whose pronunciation of French names and places can be abysmal at times.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

If only this had been around when I was at school.

This is, in my opinion, a well-paced delivery of a succinct history by a narrator who sounded as if he was enjoying both the subject and narrating it. He also seemed to possess a knowledge of it which I feel was evidence by his confident delivery.
The author has given sufficient information to provide a general background to modern France and the relationships it has with other nations as well as its constituent parts. Cecil Jenkins left enough signposts throughout the book for further study into areas and topics of interest without bogging the listener down with excessive detail.
My interest is mainly in the Fourth and Fifth Republics but understanding them is not really possible without a knowledge of the preceding history and significant people, events and dates. This book achieved that.
Tristan Bernays narration is lively and clear with a natural flow and sense of humour.
The brief mention and significance, early on, of Asterix, from where I and probably many others gained a lot of my early French, was a gem and put a new perspective on my childhood memories.
If history had been delivered in a similar manner, both content and portrayal, when I was at school my life may have taken a different course.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Mostly modern history

I was excited about the appearance on audible of a book on the history of France but potential listeners should be warned that this book has a very modern focus. Although it starts right from pre-history, the speed is very fast and the first world war is reached with less than half the book completed. By contrast there is a hugely detailed discussion of the regimes of recent French presidents. This will appeal to some, but was certainly not what I expected from the title. The narration was good, though not in the very top class.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

Lopsided book, slapdash narration.

As others have said already, the history of earlier centuries is handled far more briefly than the modern history. It seems to stretch almost logarithmically to the stuff which happened in the 1980s.

The narrator, despite making some French sounds almost like a native, has little idea of most French phonemes, and we hear especially very strange u sounds which are neither the one of the other, so we hear of "cul d'état" but "la roue" and the nasal vowels are all muddled up. I think the narrator might be quite listenab!e to for a different kind of book, preferably one without French words in it.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful