Augustin Thierry

Born in Blois in 1795, Augustin Thierry became one of the best-known French historians of his generation. He studied at the École Normale in Paris and was at first connected with the social thinker Henri de Saint-Simon before developing his own historical approach.

Thierry became especially admired for writing history as a living story rather than a dry list of events. He is best known for works such as History of the Conquest of England by the Normans, and reference works describe him as one of the standout Romantic historians for the vivid, dramatic way he presented the past while still drawing on primary documents.

He remained an important figure in French historical writing until his death in 1856. Readers coming to him now will find a writer who helped shape modern popular history: scholarly in ambition, but always trying to make the struggles and voices of earlier centuries feel real.