FranceAn authoritative history of the French nation that can be read for novelistic pleasure, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Discovery of France and Parisians.

love and friendship - just like us

As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker

better-tasting drinks

But there has been another way to learn how to live well - the humanist way - and in today's more secular world

Edward discovers that Charles Dickens' fame has reached even there

a brilliant 'great white' cherry tree

the air and our bodies

promiscuous Maria Turquand still preys on his mind

the world was still quiet

fear and inadequacy constantly cloud your life

but the age of magic refuses to die

' Shannon ferried his body home to his stunned family - a family to which she suddenly no longer belonged