author
Augustin Thierry
1795–1856
A leading French historian of the Romantic era, he helped make history feel vivid and alive by combining close work with original sources and a strong narrative voice. He is especially remembered for writing about medieval France and the Norman conquest of England.
1 Audiobook
Lettres sur l'histoire de France
by Augustin Thierry
About the author
Born in Blois in 1795, Augustin Thierry became one of the best-known French historians of the 19th century. Early in his career he was connected with the thinker Henri de Saint-Simon, but he later followed his own path and devoted himself to historical writing.
Thierry stood out for trying to build his work from original documents at a time when that approach was still unusual. His books joined careful research with a dramatic, readable style, which helped bring a wide audience to history. Among his best-known works is History of the Conquest of England by the Normans, and he also wrote influential studies of French communal life and the Merovingian period.
His health declined badly during his working life, yet he continued to write and revise his books. He died in Paris in 1856, leaving behind a body of work that helped shape modern historical writing in France.