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Résumé :
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Is France still an exception in Europe - as its politicians often claim - or have the French come back into line? In this survey, Jean Pierre Dormois shows the spectacular transformation that France has undergone over the past century. At the time of the 1900 Paris exhibition, France was still a largely rural, agricultural and to some extent backward economy with a stagnating and extremely scattered population, and a vowed reluctance to fully enter modern industrial civilisation. After two major conflicts which came close to exhausting its resourcefulness, the country embarked on a path of radical transformation. By the close of the century, there was less and less distinguishable in the French urban or indeed rural landscape; derelict neighbourhoods became glamourous concrete business centres and shopping malls, and the country became the second world exporter of services. This book will be of key interest to students of European and Economic History.
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