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A review by fleural
How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People by Sudhir Hazareesingh
3.0
2.5 stars.
How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People by Sudhir Hazareesingh is an overview of French culture, history, and philosophy. It focuses greatly on the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleon´s leadership of France, while also including the philosophies of the Enlightenment and French politics in a way that is more or less easy to digest with some background knowledge in philosophy and politics. There is considerable concentration on The French Revolution and Napoleonic Eras and while these are intrinsic to the author´s later points, there is so little covered on modern thought and philosophy that even the overview of post-WWII France seems far too brief. Nationalism is deeply covered to an exhausting extent, and I truthfully had a hard time finishing this book. There was a ton of interesting material in it--from the occultism of various French greats to various communist sects within French society--but mostly presented within the first 50 pages of the book. Worth reading, not a waste of time, but difficult to get through after a while.
How the French Think: An Affectionate Portrait of an Intellectual People by Sudhir Hazareesingh is an overview of French culture, history, and philosophy. It focuses greatly on the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleon´s leadership of France, while also including the philosophies of the Enlightenment and French politics in a way that is more or less easy to digest with some background knowledge in philosophy and politics. There is considerable concentration on The French Revolution and Napoleonic Eras and while these are intrinsic to the author´s later points, there is so little covered on modern thought and philosophy that even the overview of post-WWII France seems far too brief. Nationalism is deeply covered to an exhausting extent, and I truthfully had a hard time finishing this book. There was a ton of interesting material in it--from the occultism of various French greats to various communist sects within French society--but mostly presented within the first 50 pages of the book. Worth reading, not a waste of time, but difficult to get through after a while.