The second Viscount Norwich, to give JJN his formal title, is more au fait with France than most historians - his father was once His Majesty's ambassador in France.
Also as befits Duff Cooper's son, Norwich is well-informed about the gossip - France: A History is liberally interspersed with lively asides about the amorous liaisons of the country's rulers down the ages.
Anyone looking for an in-depth political and social investigation of what makes the French who they are today, apply elsewhere.
Norwich is upfront right from the start that this is to be an old-fashioned history of rulers, dates and battles, designed to provide a bare lines chronology of French history for those who are ignorant of it.
That gives France: A History a "1066 And All That" kind of feel - it's all the history you can remember, or at least all the history Norwich feels you ought to remember.
There are a few more than two genuine dates and many more than five bad kings: like countless British politicians, Norwich battles to find a good word to say about those in charge across the ditch.
At times the book feels annoyingly anaemic, vast tracts of fascinating history are skipped through in a few chapters.
At other times it is frustratingly Paris-centric, as political intrigue in the capital dominates the narrative and what is happening in the remaining departments is overlooked.
As a result, rather as it did for the Bourbons, the French Revolution sneaks up and almost catches the reader by surprise.
From here on, however, Norwich gets a little more in-depth, and for the revolution he calls upon Christopher Hibbert as his inspiration, a good choice as Hibbert's rollicking narrative history lends itself well to Norwich's own style.
Subsequent seismic events such as the Industrial Revolution, the Franco-Prussian war and the world wars are also explored more fully, and in the case of World War 2 with anecdotes only someone who dined at his father's table would know.
This is a book with self-imposed faults, but one that never pretends to be anything other than it is: a popular and entertaining precis of French history.
As such it depends on the elan of Norwich's pen, and here the veteran historian does not disappoint.
Always a lively and entertaining writer, Norwich's passion for his subject is set out in his preface and his prose carries that verve throughout.
If it seems a touch self-indulgent at times, so much the better, this is a master of the art of writing on a much-loved subject, demanding his reader share his enthusiasm.
- Mike Houlahan is an ODT reporter
Win a copy
The Weekend Mix has two copies of France: A History: From Gaul To De Gaulle, by John Julius Norwich, courtesy of Hachette, to give away.
For your chance to win a copy, email playtime@odt.co.nz with your name and postal address in the body of the email and ‘‘France’’ in the subject line, by Tuesday, May 15.
LAST WEEK’S WINNERS Winners of copies of Feverish: A Memoir, by Gigi Fenster, courtesy of Victoria University Press, were: Jean Sims, of Oturehua, and Grant Findlay and Wayne Mclachlan, of Dunedin.
