History of France

This volume opens with a panoramic look at the land that would become France, bounded by the Channel, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Alps. It traces the region’s earliest inhabitants, the Celtic tribes, through the Roman annexation of Gaul and the subsequent wave of Germanic peoples—Goths, Burgundians and the decisive Frankish settlement. The narrative follows the rise of the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne and its fragmentation among his grandsons, setting the stage for the emergence of the western kingdom that later evolved into modern France.

The story then turns to the nascent French monarchy, beginning with the Neustrian kingdom under Charles the Bald and the threat posed by Viking raiders, whose leader Rollo was granted lands that would become Normandy. Central to the tale is the ascent of the House of Paris, where figures such as Robert the Strong and his descendants defend the capital and eventually secure the crown for Hugh Capet in 987. Readers are introduced to the early feudal order, the blend of Roman law, Salic customs, and the growing influence of the Church that shaped the kingdom’s foundations.