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£9.99
Published
2 June 2026
Paperback
9781917532273
Ebook
978-1-913083-31-1
Press Release
Coming soon.
By Colin Jones:

 

‘An ideal introduction to French history for almost any reader’ LITERARY REVIEW

From ‘glorious defeat’ in 52 BCE at the hands of Julius Caesar to the somewhat unexpected triumph of the 2024 Paris Olympics, The Shortest History of France charts more than two millennia of eventful and surprising history.

Climate and the colonies, religion and the economy, intellectuals and immigrants, sans culottes and gilets jaunes… Colin Jones expertly navigates the territory, showing that the nation’s glories owe as much to its openness to outside influence as to any innate genius. This is a timely, accessible and eye-opening history of our nearest neighbour.

Old Street Publishing The Shortest History of France

‘An ideal introduction to French history for almost any reader’ LITERARY REVIEW

From ‘glorious defeat’ in 52 BCE at the hands of Julius Caesar to the somewhat unexpected triumph of the 2024 Paris Olympics, The Shortest History of France charts more than two millennia of eventful and surprising history.

Climate and the colonies, religion and the economy, intellectuals and immigrants, sans culottes and gilets jaunes… Colin Jones expertly navigates the territory, showing that the nation’s glories owe as much to its openness to outside influence as to any innate genius. This is a timely, accessible and eye-opening history of our nearest neighbour.

 9.99
 
 

‘A perfect little digest… Distilling 2,000 years’ worth of history in a 255-page book that ends with an image of Zinedine Zidane at the Olympics is no mean feat’
—Evening Standard

 
 
  • 'Rich, readable … Jones is a compelling tour guide through time'
    —TLS
  • 'An ideal introduction to French history for almost any reader. It is also very up to date… the range of Jones's coverage, delivered with elegance and often wit, is very impressive’
    —Literary Review
  • 'A stimulating and expert achievement… Jones is well known for his eye for illuminating detail and his enjoyment of the quirks of human folly. Despite the scale of his task, he demonstrates these qualities in hundreds of incisive observations. The book is studded with illustrations, maps, and sidebars… Fascinating’
    —Australian Book Review
 
 
Colin Jones

COLIN JONES is Emeritus Professor of Cultural History at Queen Mary University, London. His books include The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize in 2021), Paris: Biography of a City (winner of the Enid MacLeod Prize) and The Smile Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Paris.