The Road from the Past

August 1, 1994
The human drama of French history comes vibrantly alive as medieval historian Caro, who has driven many times from the Roman ruins of Provence to Napoleon's Arch of Triumph in Paris, re-creates the places she saw and the historical events connected with them. With her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert A. Caro, as traveling companion, she takes us inside Roman villas, fortified medieval cities, royal castles, abbeys and Baroque palaces. Her delightful blend of travel, history and pithy observations on French culture unfolds chronologically with historic tales of love, murder, political intrigue, treachery and selflessness. Along with Joan of Arc, poet-prince Charles d'Orleans and extravagant Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV's embezzling finance minister, we meet astonishing figures such as Foulques Nerra (``Black Falcon''), the war-mongering 11th-century Count of Anjou who obtained a large segment of the Loire valley--the dowry of his first wife, who he burned at the stake. Then he married another heiress to win control of more of the valley.

September 1, 1994
Using this guide correctly, one can methodically visit numerous facets of French civilization and not miss a popular site. The formula is simple. Divide the country into regions-Provence, Langueduc, Dordogne, Loire Valley, Ile de France. Select the best relic examples from each period, add some royal history, and move chronologically. All periods are easily visible-Roman ruins, early Christian sculpture, active medieval cliffside monasteries and walled cities, English and French chateaus from the Hundred Years' War, baronial manors, Renaissance art, gardens, palaces, and the grandeur of Louis XIV. The tour stops just short of the 19th century. Unlike most guidebooks, this book makes no formal recommendations on accommodations and restaurants, and no hours of attractions are stated. Describing the evolution of France through the eyes of a foreign tourist makes this guidebook equally attractive to history buffs, tourists, and armchair travelers. An interesting perspective on traveling.-Ann E. Cohen, Rochester P.L., N.Y.

August 1, 1994
Though the expression "sheer delight" appears frequently in reviews, it's a perfectly apt description of Caro's book. An American, she writes with contagious fondness about driving through the French countryside, through farmland and villages and towns, from the southeastern province of Provence up to Paris. It was a "drive through history," for she and her husband (biographer Robert Caro) plotted their journey to take them to places of particular significance in France's own rich historical journey from Roman times to the twentieth century. In a sort of connect-the-dots fashion, she made certain they viewed places in chronological order, so that they saw ancient items before medieval ones, and medieval ones before Renaissance ones, and so on. She weaves into her narrative a light but informed account of France's politics, architecture, religion, food, and language throughout its colorful epochs, making this a book to learn from before setting out for a trip there or even one for armchair travelers. ((Reviewed August 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)