From ‘glorious defeat’ in 52 BCE at the hands of Julius Caesar to the coup de theatre of the 2024 Olympics, The Shortest History of France charts over two millennia of eventful and surprising history. The romantic boulevards of Paris, the sublime art of Renoir and Monet, the delights of haute couture and grande cuisine – what could be more quintessentially French? Yet even a humble breakfast of caf? au lait and croissants can tell a global tale of trade and empire, war and revolution. Colin Jones leads us on a tour of France across the centuries that takes in the cultural highlights of the Grand Si?cle and the age of Voltaire as well as the darker side of French history, from the grim legacy of the Crusades to the guillotine’s long shadow. Along the way he explores the historic tension between xenophobia and tolerance that continues to shape the nation today.