Below is an easy-to-browse gallery
of books that cater to those who are interested in visiting France or learning
more about its ancient past. The majority of descriptions below are by independent
editors. Feel free to purchase these books directly from Amazon.com!
Statements
in Stone: Monuments and Society in Neolithic Europe:
Statements in Stone is the first detailed study of the great stone monuments,
or megaliths, of Western Europe. The book places various megalithic traditions
into a social context, relating these traditions to the changing structures in
social organization.
These megaliths cover a period of over 2000 years,
from the Neolithic period to the beginning of the Bronze Age. Mark Patton shows
how recent excavations have further contributed to our understanding of megaliths,
with the discovery of early complexes beneath passage graves providing evidence
for the multiphase construction of megalithic cairns and tombs.
Magic Stones: The Secret World of
Ancient Megaliths :
"Magic Stones" documents, in stunning and evocative photographs, our
ancestors' obsession with stone. Throughout Europe stone has been used to create
dwellings for the living and the dead, as a canvas for our earliest art, to celebrate
the heavens and in ways that are still, even today, beyond our understanding.
From the sun-drenched temples of Malta and the great tombs and alignments
of Brittany to the labyrinths of icy Finland, this fascinating book explores these
stones in their landscape, as part of nature and as a powerful reminder that,
thousands of years on, they still hold a certain magic and mystery. This is the
most wide-ranging photographic record of ancient European stone structures published
to date. It is an inspirational celebration of the beliefs and achievements of
our ancient ancestors...
Norbert Aujoulat's definitive book on the Lascaux caves in France, the artistic
masterpiece of the Old Stone Age, is the next best thing to being there. That's
handy, since you can't go there yourself. Only a few scientists are permitted
to visit Lascaux anymore, most eminent among them the author, who heads the parietal
art department at the National Center of Prehistory. With impressive authority,
he eIaborates the geology, archaeology, and ethology of the site so famously discovered
by two spelunking teenagers in 1940, 18,000 years after the cave's heyday.
In a way, the book is like the cave itself: a bit daunting, but enormously rewarding
the effort. You must traverse great stalagmites of thoroughgoing scientific text
translated from French, and are rewarded by enormous vistas of animals painted
and scratched on the vast stone walls—262 color illustrations of the most
important of the 1,963 images in the cave, including 915 animals and one human.
Useful and fun to read, this French phrasebook is the ideal way for travelers
to communicate easily and naturally. The typical French dictionary won't show
you how to tell the hotel manager "J'ai dormi comme un enfant" ("I
slept like a baby") and certainly not "Je suis couvert de piqures des
punaises!" ("I'm covered with bug bites!"). This one does!
Want to know where to get a great espresso on your way to the Uffizi? Or how much
to tip a hotel maid in New York City? Try these travel guides, each an intricate
trove of 3-D aerial views, landmark floor plans, color photos and essential eating,
shopping and entertainment info. With titles covering Paris, Prague, and London,
these pocket-sized guides are like a Michelangelo fresco: deliriously rich in
detail. -- People Magazine.
Discover why the Eiffel Tower expands during Paris' high season.Tour the wild
beaches and gin-clear waters of Corsica's Bouches de Bonifacio. Pick up a bottle
of locally made cider along Normandy's Route de Cidre. Get an Alpine adrenaline
rush heli-skiing above Chamonix.
Statements in Stone is the first detailed study of the great stone monuments,
or megaliths, of Western Europe. The book places various megalithic traditions
into a social context, relating these traditions to the changing structures in
social organization. 
"Magic Stones" documents, in stunning and evocative photographs, our
ancestors' obsession with stone. Throughout Europe stone has been used to create
dwellings for the living and the dead, as a canvas for our earliest art, to celebrate
the heavens and in ways that are still, even today, beyond our understanding.
Norbert Aujoulat's definitive book on the Lascaux caves in France, the artistic
masterpiece of the Old Stone Age, is the next best thing to being there. That's
handy, since you can't go there yourself. Only a few scientists are permitted
to visit Lascaux anymore, most eminent among them the author, who heads the parietal
art department at the National Center of Prehistory. With impressive authority,
he eIaborates the geology, archaeology, and ethology of the site so famously discovered
by two spelunking teenagers in 1940, 18,000 years after the cave's heyday.
Useful and fun to read, this French phrasebook is the ideal way for travelers
to communicate easily and naturally. The typical French dictionary won't show
you how to tell the hotel manager "J'ai dormi comme un enfant" ("I
slept like a baby") and certainly not "Je suis couvert de piqures des
punaises!" ("I'm covered with bug bites!"). This one does! 
Want to know where to get a great espresso on your way to the Uffizi? Or how much
to tip a hotel maid in New York City? Try these travel guides, each an intricate
trove of 3-D aerial views, landmark floor plans, color photos and essential eating,
shopping and entertainment info. With titles covering Paris, Prague, and London,
these pocket-sized guides are like a Michelangelo fresco: deliriously rich in
detail. -- People Magazine.
Discover why the Eiffel Tower expands during Paris' high season.Tour the wild
beaches and gin-clear waters of Corsica's Bouches de Bonifacio. Pick up a bottle
of locally made cider along Normandy's Route de Cidre. Get an Alpine adrenaline
rush heli-skiing above Chamonix.
