Sixty million French people cannot be wrong

Author: [Canada] Jean-Benoit Nadeau/Julie Barlow/He Kaisheng/Hu Jilan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: French people smoke, drink, and consume more fat than anyone else in the world, yet they live longer and have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans; they offer little incentive to entrepreneurs but prefer their entrepreneurial couples; they work 35 hours a week with seven paid vacation weeks annually, yet remain the world's fourth-largest economic power. What makes the French so unique? From afar, modern France appears like a mystery. Six Million French People Can't Be Wrong shows us how the pieces of this puzzle come together. Authors Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow approach France like anthropologists, using anecdotes, observations, historical and political analysis, and reflections to uncover the connections between the French national character, offering a fresh perspective on a country that seems incomprehensible to many. Six Million French People Can't Be Wrong is a journey into the minds, thoughts, and souls of the French. Nadeau and Barlow interpret the French views on land, food, privacy, and language, weaving together the threads of French society—from centralization and the Napoleonic Code to elite education, even street protests—to provide us with a panoramic view of the French.