J. P. T. Bury (1908–1967)

4347. France 1814-1940, by J. P. T. Bury (read 30 July 2007) This is a neat little book, written by an able historian (Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge), which deftly tells the history of France during the years indicated by the title. It is based on secondary sources, but does a very able job of telling the fascinating story of France--mainly political history: the old-fashioned history which I much prefer to read as against history which spends time on how people lived or earned their living. His views are not hostile to the Third Republic, but he shows its weaknesses as well as recounting what it did right. It reminded me of one of the best books I have read on modern French history: A History of Modern France, by Alfred Cobban (read 7 Mar 1969). This book was a good refresher of the latter part of that great book… (mere)