France

Towards the end of the fifteenth century, writes E.R. Chamberlin, a young French King took advantage of the Italian ‘genius for dissension’.

J.H.M. Salmon asserts that René Descartes and Blaise Pascal stand out from other men of letters of their era due to the enduring relevance of their lives and works.

Desmond Seward describes the abrupt end of a European military and financial institution.

J. LaVerne Anderson describes how the post of British Ambassador to the rulers of France has been a difficult assignment, and not only in the eighteenth century.

S.J. Ingram & G.A. Rothrock investigate the King’s delight in his many children, legitimate or otherwise.

C.G. Cruickshank describes how, having captured Tournai, the twenty-two-year-old king indulged his taste for sport and pageantry.

Roderick Cavaliero introduces Admiral Pierre Andre de Suffren, an eighteenth century legend of the French navy.

Judith Mason describes how, in February 1525, Francis I of France was defeated and taken prisoner at Pavia by an Imperial army, led by his rebellious subject the Constable of Bourbon, who later launched an attack upon the Holy City.

Joanna Richardson describes how, during the 1830s, the world of Bohemia offered a warm and fruitful climate to artists and writers.

M.J. Tucker describes how, although he may have looked rather like a medieval miser, Henry VII attracted to his Court some of the best minds of the Renaissance