In this book, which is based on 63 dialogues with residents of Paris, San Francisco, and Minsk, Belorus, Francis Feeley has given us remarkable descriptions of ordinary people and events in three cities. This comparative study of urban life ( enfanced by revealing photographs of the people interviewed ) is recommended reading not only for students of French society, of which we are a part, but for students of western societies in general, where similarities and differences are not well-defined in the minds of many. In today's context of " globalization", this book might well remain a essential text for analysing the evolution of convergences and disintigrations of social units in western societies, especially in the three urban centers represented in this book.

This book is a comparative study of daily life in three historic cities. Students of sociology, anthropology, and comparative social history will benefit from reading these first-person accounts of individual aspirations, disappointments, and triumphs.

The cultural differences between the French, the residents of the former Soviet Union, and the Californians are interesting, but what these great people share in common and their attitudes facing daily life are valuable reminders of why we have survived as a species.

Theodore Zeldin announces his project in a brief preface. It bristles with the energy of ambition. We sense that we may be about to launch into something truly revolutionary:

"I want to show how, today, it is possible for individuals to form a fresh view both of their own personal history and of humanity's whole record of cruelty, misunderstanding, and joy. To have a new vision of the future, it has always first been necessary to have a new vision of the past.... Instead of explaining the peculiarity of individuals by pointing to their family or childhood, I take a longer view: I show how they pay attention to--or ignore--the experience of previous, more distant generations, and how they are continuing the struggles of many other communities all over the world ... among whom they have more soul-mates than they may realize."

The 25 chapters that follow bear titles like "How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of spectacles, revive them," and "How people choose a way of life, and how it does not wholly satisfy them." Each chapter begins with a portrait of one or several people in the contemporary world--usually French women--focusing on a particular life problem, or a creative attempt at solving such a problem. Zeldin follows this portrait with a brief history of that problem, or of a clearly related phenomenon.

For instance, the first chapter opens with a portrait of Juliette, a domestic servant who feels trapped in her job, in her social class, and by the unbridgeable distance between her and potential friends. This portrait is followed by a history of slavery--not a linear history, but a selective highlighting of relevant themes and moments in the history of slavery. Zeldin emphasizes that not all slaves have been so involuntarily, nor is there such a great difference between those who are enslaved forcibly and those who are enslaved by their own lack of imagination. The overall effect is that we gain a stronger sense of kinship with medieval Slavs and others whose history is contrasted with Juliette's, as well as a stronger sense of our own agency in determining how we might fit ourselves into the patterns of history.

This first chapter is one of the strongest in the book, and I summarize it as an example of Zeldin's project at its brightest. Throughout the book, Zeldin writes with admirable compassion, as well as with an unapologetic earnestness that would read as idealistically naïve if it weren't for the intelligence and determined sincerity of his prose. These qualities made me want his project to succeed, and yet by the hundredth page I had already almost given up on it.

I had hoped to find a deep history of psychology and morality, a revelation that our preoccupations, passions, and needs, and the consequent values that they engender, have a long genealogy that is far from transparent. Such a history might help to disabuse us of the feelings of necessity and immutability that hover about our frustrations. However, rather than present us with a rich diversity of psychological and ethical concerns, Zeldin is keen to impose modern values and preoccupations on that past, dictating the morals we are to learn from his histories rather than allowing us to draw our own lessons and conclusions.

I believe the lack of relativism is quite intentional. Zeldin is inspired by the universalism of the Enlightenment, and speaks admiringly of the Declaration of the Rights of Man as being a declaration not just for the French people, but for all people. He wants us to see that all humans share a great deal, that people of different eras and cultures are not so different from us. Applying liberal values and contemporary emotional preoccupations to times past may foster a greater sense of kinship, but I think it is also deeply misleading. If our aim is to understand people of other cultures, we must make a determined effort to understand them as they understand themselves. How useful is a feeling of kinship if it is based ultimately on misrepresentation?

A further unfortunate consequence of Zeldin's imposition of liberal values on the past is that, despite an impressive range of examples, the book becomes repetitive. An exhortation toward open-mindedness can be given quite thoroughly in twenty pages. If a book of 472 pages returns again and again to a very basic set of themes, without elaborating on them or moving beyond them, it becomes tiresome no matter how many engaging historical anecdotes it contains. Despite the staggering breadth of Zeldin's reading, despite the range and diversity of the lives he portrays, this book ultimately makes for a disappointingly narrow read.

And while it is hard to fault the impressive range of material that Zeldin leads us through quite comfortably, certain choices narrow the breadth of the book even further. His justification for interviewing French women almost exclusively (he doesn't seem to register that almost all these women are also white) reads as a half-hearted apology for Francophilia. While we do get the occasional glimpse into the rich cultures of India, China, and Japan (less so with cultures with less sophisticated literary traditions) most of his anecdotes draw from the history of the Christian and Muslim West. While it would be unreasonable to demand a deep knowledge of all aspects of world history (though a project this ambitious would seem to require it) there are moments that the need for a non-Western point of contrast or comparison is sorely felt.

Zeldin wishes to speak for all humanity, but he succeeds only in speaking of all humanity, and even there his effort is lackluster. In truth, he only speaks for those of us in the modern West, and in addressing our current preoccupations with a therapeutic aim, his book reads as much like self-help as it does like a history.

I especially admire the structure; what Kundera achieves in the novel Zeldin realises in a modern history of human emotions. It could be that people living in America will find the subjects too Eurocentric. They're all French and all women. But steer away from your preconceptions, please and enjoy the bravest work of history for the past decade. I have bought about a dozen copies of this book - I found it important to give it to friends.

This book is a rich, thought-provoking assimilation of human experience, addressing inumerable topics whilst maintaining a fascinating, coherent whole. Topics include "How people choose a way of life, and how it does not truly satisfy them", and "Why there has been more progress in cooking than sex". For me what reading really did was to fire my imagination to look afresh at what it means to be human. In the introduction Zeldin argues that too often we look in terms only of the immediate past, and of our near surroundings, rather than considering the experiences of all individuals throughout history. He takes detailed conversations with individuals about their personal experiences to show in context the significance of the "silent", intimate battles of history, from which he argues we have as much to learn and draw from as from our more well-documented, public history. Zeldin writes that the book should represent the starting point, with each chapter including a bibliography on the many topics touched upon. I found this book extremely readable and succinctly expressed, and as absorbing as any novel.

I bought this book, hoping to get up-to-date information on French culture and society. Although I enjoyed the book and found it very informative from a historical perspective, I was dissappointed that much of the quoted information and statistics derive from studies and interviews done as long ago as 1973, most from the 1970's in general, and nothing after 1982. Since I was a student in France in 1982, it is interesting to look back on my experiences in view of what I have read in this book. But if you want to know anything about current trends in French popular culture, or more recent studies, statistics, and [attitude revealing] interviews with French individuals, you will not find it in this book.

I bought this book at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris before there was an Amazon.com to offer it at such an excellent price. Still I feel I got my money's worth. It is true the essays in this book rely a lot on the opinions of the author but Theodore Zeldin has supplemented them with interviews, cartoons, charts, and footnotes which leave the reader feeling he has stumbled upon a textbook of the highest order. Whether you are wondering about French humor (what's with that Jerry Lewis thing) or which blood types are the most common the information is here. Save yourself a lot of money, buy the book here and enjoy.

I have all of these books, plus one, a new one just published by Kogan Page in the UK in February. I highly recommend that Amazon.Com and Amazon.co.uk have in its stocks - "Chez Vous en France: Living and Working in France" by Genevieve Brame. It is the only guidebook for foreign residents in France written by a French person. Several well known personalities have contributed to her preface, including Mr. Zeldin. Destined for those whose work, career, or studies bring them to France. Organized into 10 themes, this 300 page book offers an attractive and active approach to learning about France and the French culture - offering the « keys » to the practical aspects of life in France. Going beyond the standard clichés, Chez Vous en France : Living and Working in France is an excellent guidebook ; its insights will help the professional and his/her family adapt quickly to living in France. It also serves as an excellent resource for HR professionals.

This is a beautifully produced small hardcover on glossy paper to include the author's provocative marbleized drawings. The author was described by the Independent on Sunday (London) as "one of the forty world figures whose iseas are likely to have a lasting relevance to the new millennium," and is a member of the BBC Brains Trust, the British Academy, and the European Academy. So what's the problem? Maybe I'm just not smart enough to get it, but this book seemed insubstantial to me. "We need a new conversation," Zeldin repeats, new ways of talking with each other within and about work, love, technology, family, but the proposals and examples never come. He's studied conversation, and had innumerable conversations with people all over the world, but how would one characterize these as "new" or "old"? Unfortunately, the book does not live up to the promise of its subtitle.

The final chapter, "How Conversation Encourages the Meeting of Minds," on providing hospitality to strangers to enrich the family dialogue, and the 36 conversational topics at the end, were the most practical of the book. But a book I had looked forward to giving as a gift fell short of my hopes for stimulating thought and community through conversation.

I heard about this book on an old radio interview with the author, Mr. Zeldin. I was impressed enough to buy the book. I think the ideas in the book are way ahead of our times, which is why I'd like to recommend it to everyone. It's a fast read, you can get through it in an afternoon easily. But the ideas are as profound as those in A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I'm sure I'll read this book over and over at odd times.

With this book, Theodore Zeldin reminds us that the thoughts we translate from electrical charges spurting about our craniums into lines of airborne vibrations named WORDS are so powerful. Each composition of sentence can serve as a tool to 'change the world'. This potentiality gives 'gift' to our listener as it gives 'gift' to us. Such potentiality allow transcending the moment of NOW into the sphere of CHANGE. Zeldin's brief historical study of conversation reminds us of the opportunity to affect another person: at mind/soul level. Our thoughts truly are 'tools' to teach others. The randomness of prattle is urged to be replaced by the potent and influential weight of words that may register on the inner recording devices of another human. In that considered act (forming sentences of worth) one learns/relearns the value of Jesus implied when he said "whenever two or more of you are gathered together, there I am with you also." Do slip this book into your hands and those of your language intimates! It will yield the deepened relationships for which we ALL yearn (marriages included).