Most Popular Books by Graham Robb

Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on early 20th-century culture. This new work by the biographer of Balzac and Victor Hugo now brings the "haunting and haunted poet" ("New York Times Book Review") vividly to life. of illustrations.

The author of the acclaimed "The Discovery of France" delves into the secretsof the City of Light, revealed in the lives of the great, the near-great, andthe forgotten.

Graham Robb has produced a masterpiece of literary biography in which Balzac bursts into life on every page. The living manifestation of the colourful and varied world he described, yet at the same time its most astonishing exception, Balzac is the perfect subject for biography. Robb skilfully interweaves the life with the work to paint an indelible and brilliantly compelling portrait of one of the great tragicomic heroes of the nineteenth century, a man whose influence both in and outside his native France has been and is still immense. ‘Graham Robb does a superb job in bringing Balzac to life in all his preposterousness, while still letting us appreciate his genius’ Sunday Independent ‘Robb’s Balzac is a fine achievement: an impressive work of scholarship and an enormously enjoyable read. In a well-paced narrative, he blends solid evidence with amusing anecdote, patient evaluation with witty aside’ Guardian

"Graham Robb tells the complicated story of this colossal life with authority and sympathy. . . . Unquestionably, a magnificent biography".--"Washington Square Press". of photos.

A wholly original history of France, filled with a lifetime’s knowledge and passion—by the author of the New York Times bestseller Parisians. Beginning with the Roman army’s first recorded encounter with the Gauls and ending in the era of Emmanuel Macron, France takes readers on an endlessly entertaining journey through French history. Frequently hilarious, always surprising, Graham Robb’s France combines the stylistic versatility of a novelist with the deep understanding of a scholar. Robb’s own adventures and discoveries while living, working, and traveling in France connect this tour through space and time with on-the-ground experience. There are scenes of wars and revolutions from the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris. Robb conveys with wit and precision what it felt like to look over the shoulder of a young Louis XIV as he planned the vast garden of Versailles, and the dangerous thrill of having a ringside seat at the French revolution. Some of the protagonists may be familiar, but appear here in a very different light—Caesar, Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, General Charles de Gaulle. This extraordinary narrative is the fruit of decades of research and thirty thousand miles on a self-propelled, two-wheeled time machine (a bicycle). Even seasoned Francophiles will wonder if they really know that terra incognita on the edge of Europe that is currently referred to as “France.”

A narrative of exploration, this historical geography explains how the modern nation of France came to be and how poorly understood that nation still is today. Above all, it shows how much of France--past and present--remains to be discovered. Illustrated.

A fresh examination of this forbidden history shows the profound effects of gay culture on modern life. Robb, brilliant biographer of Balzac, Hugo, and Rimbaud, examines how homosexuals were treated by society and finds a tale of surprising tolerance.

"[An] entertaining work of geographical sleuthing.…Surprises abound." —The New Yorker An oft-overlooked region lies at the heart of British national history: the Debatable Land. The oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain, the Debatable Land once served as a buffer between England and Scotland. It was once the bloodiest region in the country, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and James V. After most of its population was slaughtered or deported, it became the last part of Great Britain to be brought under the control of the state. Today, its boundaries have vanished from the map and are matters of myth and generational memories. In The Debatable Land, historian Graham Robb recovers the history of this ancient borderland in an exquisite tale that spans Roman, Medieval, and present-day Britain. Rich in detail and epic in scope, The Debatable Land provides a crucial, missing piece in the puzzle of British history.

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"Intriguing and stimulating." —Jane Smiley, Harper''s In this real-life historical treasure hunt, bestselling author Graham Robb—"one of the more unusual and appealing historians currently striding the planet (New York Times)"—reveals the mapping of ancient Gaul as a reflection of the heavens, demonstrates the lasting influence of Druid science and recharts the exploration of the world and the spread of Christianity. This "fascinating" (Los Angeles Times) history offers nothing less than an entirely new understanding of the birth of modern Europe.

When Graham Robb made plans to cycle the legendary Via Heraklea, he had no idea that the line he plotted - stretching from the south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula, across the Pyrenees and towards the Alps - would change the way he saw a civilisation. It was an ancient path that took him deep into the world of the Celts: their gods, their art, and, most of all, their sophisticated knowledge of science. Gradually, a lost map revealed itself, of an empire constructed with precision and beauty across vast tracts of Europe. Oriented according to the movements of the Celtic sun god, the map had been forgotten for almost two millennia. Its implications were astonishing.

A col is the lowest point on the saddle between two mountains. Graham Robb has spent years uncovering and cataloguing the 2,002 cols and 105 passes scattered across the British Isles. Some of these obscure and magical sites are virgin cols that have never been crossed. Dozens were lost by the Ordnance Survey and are recorded only in ballads or monastic charters. The eleven cols of Hadrian''s Wall are practically unknown and have never been properly identified. These underappreciated slices of natural beauty provide a new way of looking at British history, and a challenge for cyclists and walkers.

A brilliant history of Britain, from 500 million BC to the next election Taking the reader on a time-travelling adventure around the ''spindly, sea-wracked islands'' we call home, The Discovery of Britain is panoramic and intimate, poignant and shocking, seriously funny, and enlightening in the most surprising way. In historian Graham Robb''s assured hands, and often from the unique vantage point of his bicycle, we encounter an entertaining cast of characters foreign and homegrown, drop in on places and events, and dwell on the successes and catastrophes across British history, seeing it all as it''s never been seen before. Political, geographical and social in scope, and with intriguing maps and illustrations throughout, The Discovery of Britain can be devoured whole or each chapter read in the time it takes to change a bicycle tyre or roll and smoke a cigarette. The wonderful choice of how to enjoy this original and sweeping history of Britain - from ancient settlements swallowed up by the sea to recent political earthquakes - is yours.

"Les aventures qui figurent dans ce livre ont été écrites comme une histoire de Paris racontée par de nombreuses voix différentes. Elles débutent à l’aube de la Révolution française et s’achèvent à l’époque actuelle, s’autorisant parfois quelques incursions dans le passé médiéval et préhistorique. Par cette entreprise, je me proposais de composer une mini Comédie humaine de Paris, dans laquelle l’histoire de la ville serait éclairée par l’expérience vécue de ses habitants. Rien n’a été artificiellement ajouté et personne – mis à part le baron Haussmann, Adolf Hitler et quelques présidents de la République – ne disserte sur l’évolution du système d’égouts ou du réseau de transports." Au lecteur, amoureux de Paris ou curieux d’Histoire, de se délecter de ce merveilleux livre, pour y rencontrer une foule de personnages inconnus ou illustres : le tout jeune lieutenant Buonaparte, en goguette au Palais-Royal ; l’architecte Guillaumot, l’homme qui sauva Paris, dont aucune rue de la capitale ne porte le nom aujourd’hui ; Marie Antoinette, reine en détresse, perdue un certain jour de 1791 aux abords du palais des Tuileries ; le grand Vidocq, qui pouvait se changer à loisir en botte de foin ; mais aussi Proust, Charles de Gaulle, Juliette Gréco, et tant d’autres...

Discriminados, perseguidos y castigados. Su crimen: amar a una persona del mismo sexo. La historia de los homosexuales se ha ceñido durante mucho tiempo a la intolerancia y a los mitos construidos alrededor de ellos. A partir de una revisión de las obras literarias del siglo XIX, en este ensayo histórico y social se hace una recapitulación sobre las ideas y prejuicios sobre la homosexualidad, y los problemas que enfrentó no sólo en el ámbito público sino también en el privado. Numerosas teorías fundadas en los prejuicios sociales y un desconocimiento científico constituyen el discurso dominante sobre la homosexualidad. Consciente de esto, el autor emprende esta investigación con el deseo de presentar una historia social que recrea la forma de vivir la homosexualidad a lo largo del siglo XIX, especialmente en Estados Unidos y Europa. Este trabajo esboza una teoría novedosa acerca de la tolerancia hacia la homosexualidad a través de la ficción de aquellos tiempos. "Este libro se divide en tres partes. La primera describe el trato de hombres y mujeres gay por las profesiones legales y médicas y por la sociedad en general. La segunda describe sus vidas y amores: cómo se descubrieron a sí mismos e hicieron contacto con personas de ideas parecidas. Esta parte termina con el amanecer de la solidaridad homosexual y con los primeros movimientos de derechos gay. La tercera parte se dedica a ciertos aspectos capitales de la cultura gay. Una historia social que cubre un continente y medio y un siglo y medio no puede decir nada preciso acerca del posible futuro, pero puede proporcionar ciertas razones creíbles para tener un punto de vista más alegre del pasado."

''A delicious and hypnotically fascinating masterpiece of squinty-eyed fanaticism'' - Stephen Bayley, Spectator Books of the Year ''No one else so relishes the odd corners of history'' - Sunday Times ''Such a warm, gentle and generous writer, with no faux scholarly tosh or solitary ecstasy riffs'' - Evening Standard The one and only guide to every col and pass in the British Isles, for cyclists, walkers and armchair travellers A col is the lowest point on the saddle between two mountains. Graham Robb has spent years uncovering and cataloguing the 2,002 cols and 105 passes scattered across the British Isles. Some of these obscure and magical sites are virgin cols that have never been crossed. Dozens were lost by the Ordnance Survey and are recorded only in ballads or monastic charters. The eleven cols of Hadrian''s Wall are practically unknown and have never been properly identified. These under-appreciated slices of natural beauty provide a new way of looking at British history, and a challenge for cyclists and walkers. A wonderful writer . . . No one else so relishes the odd corners of history - Sunday Times He is such a warm, gentle and generous writer, with no faux scholarly tosh or solitary ecstasy riffs - Evening Standard Graham Robb is an acclaimed historian and biographer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Chevalier dans l''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has won the Whitbread Biography Prize and the Heinemann Award forVictor Hugo, as well as the Ondaatje Prize and Duff Cooper Prize for The Discovery of France. He lives on the English-Scottish border (and within a day''s ride of one hundred and seventy cols).

Jazz Steps is a unique methodical approach to jazz improvisation. It is an aural based method that starts with simple listening exercises and moves on towards copying and then responding to short jazz phrases. The cassette is available on catalogue no: 0571513689.

Dans son petit village près d''Oxford, Graham Robb trouve un jour au fond de son jardin une broche datant de l''âge du fer. Ce vestige d''un habitat primitif devient le point de départ d''une quête passionnée, au fil de laquelle l''écrivain met au jour la logique invisible de la géographie et de la cosmologie celtiques. La "voie héracléenne" (l''itinéraire fabuleux d''Hercule traversant l''Europe occidentale avec son troupeau volé) serait ainsi bien plus qu''un mythe : le coeur d''une cartographie symbolique et rigoureuse, orchestrée par la science des druides. Fort de kilomètres de terrain parcourus, d''une plongée dans les sources antiques mais aussi d''outils modernes de cartographie, l''auteur se livre à un éloge inédit de la civilisation celtique, hautement raffinée et injustement éclipsée par son successeur romain. Loin de l''ésotérisme comme du discours académique, Graham Robb privilégie avant tout le plaisir de la narration : de vieilles énigmes trouvent des solutions nouvelles ; calculs et tracés savants côtoient amphores découvertes en plantant des endives, machines astronomiques conservées des millénaires au fond de l''eau, ou encore vieilles cartes jamais décodées...