Collections

Ancient History - This collection, focused on Greek and Roman Antiquity, gathers classic French works in all their diversity and recent researches on many aspects of these ancient societies: political, religious, economic and cultural.

Medieval History - This general-interest package gathers many major studies and world famous historians like Bloch, Duby, Le Goff… as well as the new generation of french medievalists, attesting to the current research’s vitality. Traditional historical genres like biography are mixed with more cross-cutting approaches illustrated by recent collective works.

Modern History - This general-interest package is a comprehensive introduction to great historians of the period but also to recent researches which renew both military history and political, economic or cultural approaches.

French Revolution-Napoleonic Empire - A wide overview of French-speaking historiography on a particularly rich period for French and European history: from the fall of the monarchy in 1789 to the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire and the Restoration in 1815. The diversity of historiographical approaches applies to both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, studied on political, sociological, economic, military levels, but also on diplomatic, administrative, religious and cultural ones.

French Revolution - Napoleonic Empire (France National License) - A wide overview of French-speaking historiography on a particularly rich period for French and European history: from the fall of the monarchy in 1789 to the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire and the Restoration in 1815. The diversity of historiographical approaches applies to both the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, studied on political, sociological, economic, military levels, but also on diplomatic, administrative, religious and cultural ones.

First World War - This collection gathers memoirs and records written by many political and military prominent figures of the First World War, as well as numerous monographs largely focused on the revival aroused by the “Great War”’s cultural approach.

Second World War-Studies - This collection gathers a wide selection of European, as well as American eminent researchers’ works on Second World War history. This includes both contemporaries of the world war acting as historians (such as Marc Bloch or Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac) and young researchers who renew the period’s approaches.

Second World War-Sources & Records - This collection gathers key records by military and political leaders, but also by emblematic civilian figures. It offers official records of french trials (Blum during the war, Pétain and Laval during the Liberation) and above all international ones with the trials of Nazi major war criminals in Nuremberg. This set constitutes a reference resource for every researcher or student working on the period.

This package was constituted from the collections co-published by the Charles de Gaulle Foundation and offers a reference library not only on De Gaulle, but also, through him, on great parts of the contemporary history of France: military, political, economic, diplomatic and cultural history. A useful resource for all the specialists of this period.

French Political life (20th -21st Century) - This collection offers a large overview on different aspects of French Political life in the 20th and 21st centuries. Testimonies of key figures or their relatives are available, but also biographies, describing all the times and the main political trends that had marked this period. All the dimensions of the political life are gathered: life of political parties, of governments, major national crises, international politics, propaganda, censure, and political or intellectual expression in the media. This resource constitutes a precious working tool for historians, but also for jurists and researchers in political science, in information and communication…

History of 19th-20th centuries - This general-interest package created first for public libraries, focused on the 19th and 20th centuries, gathers 120 works about French history. It includes major historical figures’ memoirs, biographies of governments’ members, studies on world wars and their impact on French society, as well as classical works on social and cultural history.

The Intelligence and Security Studies package gathers an unprecedented collection of reference books on topics related to internal and external security: territory surveillance, terrorism, traffics, espionage and counter-espionage, economic intelligence, criminality, special forces. It covers all periods of contemporary history including the two world conflicts (with a strong representation of the Second World War) and the more recent wars, from Indochina and Algeria to the current conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. It includes memoirs, published sources, monographs, conference proceedings and some journalistic researches selected for their quality. On the international level, it offers a very wide panorama of the Western and Asian secret services. This collection constitutes a reference library for historians, political scientists, and more broadly all security and intelligence professionals.

General History (public libraries) - This collection initially created for public libraries contains around 300 titles and covers French history as a whole, from Antiquity to the present day, through titles selected in our specialized packages. It includes biographies and memoirs, great studies, classical historian’s works, as well as several atlas and historical dictionaries.

General History, 19th-20th centuries (public libraries) - This collection initially created for public libraries contains around 130 titles and covers French history as a whole, from 19th century to the present day, through titles selected in our specialized packages. It includes biographies and memoirs, great studies about the two world wars and their impact on French society, classical historian’s works, as well as several atlas and historical dictionaries.

Reference works and general information books in history - This collection gathers synthesis books, textbooks, dictionaries and essays… each one covering several centuries of history, sometimes from Antiquity up until nowadays. These works approach various subjects, in general, political, economic, administrative and cultural history, as well as colonial history, urban history, etc. A majority of recent reference books can be found, each specialized in their field, national histories and several great classic books of famous authors (Maurice Agulhon, Alain Corbin, Michel Foucault…).

Reference Works in Contemporary History (19-20th centuries) - Including several dictionaries, numerous textbooks and cross-cutting works of synthesis, this collection offers a non specialized resource presenting the most recent researches in French contemporary history, and covers political life, economy and society, arts and culture.

History teaching-historiography - This collection gathers a selection of the most memorable historiographical files worked out during the last years by the Association of Professors of History and Geography (APHG), textbooks on history teaching, and reflections on the profession of Historian by numerous great figures in that field (François Hartog, Jean-Noël Jeanneney, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Pierre Nora…). This is an essential resource for all the teachers, researchers, and students (graduates, postgraduates and doctorates) in history.

History of North America - Gathering Canadian and French works, this collection offers a complete vision of North America. The diversity of its studies, considering global politics as well as social changes, embraces the whole history of North America. It presents the New World’s richness, from Samuel Champlain’s explorations to its current positioning in globalization.

History of religions - This unprecedented thematic collection covers all historical periods since the Antiquity. One finds in it a majority of books dedicated to Christianity, and more generalist titles regarding the religious fact. Major authors as Georges Dumézil, Jacques Le Goff or Marcel Détienne are strongly represented.

History and Theories of Sciences - This first collection to focus on sciences and medecine gives priority to renowned authors of these disciplines (like Pasteur, Koyré, Russel, Branly, Duhem, etc.) but also to general textbooks and studies about great scientists.

History of art - This first art history collection is essentially made of artists’ monographs (mostly French ones), many of which are illustrated. Of course we find there the works of great art history specialists like Jean Clair. It also contains artists’ memories of the 20th century such as Auguste Rodin or Paul Gauguin, and writers like Guillaume Apollinaire or Paul Valéry.

Cinema Studies - This selection of reference works includes dictionaries, several textbooks and many authoritative essays: about all the periods from silent film to contemporary movies, and about European cinematography (French, British, Italian) or North American, Brazilian, Russian and Asian ones. This set reflects the diversity of French research approaches: economic, ideological, “star studies”, aesthetic and the main film genres.

Media Sociology and History - This collection reflects the vitality of the French-speaking studies on the media, between the sociology, the history, the political science and the economy. It covers the whole media sector: press, publishing, broadcasting (radio and television), new media, as well as their relations with the political power. This package addresses as well the students and the teachers in journalism as the sociologists, the historians of the cultural and all those who are interested in the media.

Psychoanalysis - This first collection dedicated to the psychoanalysis gathers works of big names of this domain, to begin with Sigmund Freud, the father of the discipline. Besides studies on its various movements, we also find there classic contemporaries, in particular the works of Françoise Dolto or Jean-Bertrand Pontalis. It includes finally all the volumes of The New Journal of Psychoanalysis, established in 1970 and directed by the latter until 1994, which makes a reference today.

Studies of French-speaking literature - This collection of literary studies is doubly French-speaking, both by its content and the varied origins of its authors and publishers. It mixes reference works about great classical and contemporary writers, and more cross-cutting approaches, by literary genres or cultural areas.

Comprehensive Works and Studies on Zola and Naturalism - This collection is structured around the reference edition of Emile Zola’s comprehensive works which – for the first time – includes several unpublished texts and numerous unavailable works. This edition relies on international works focused on Zola for forty years to offer a new reading, cleared of stereotypes and giving back their rightful roles to history, imagination and particular genius. Other titles gather both posthumous records about Zola and reference studies.

Studies of French and French-speaking literature (France National License) - This collection of literary studies is doubly French-speaking, both by its content and the varied origins of its authors and publishers. It mixes reference works about great classical and contemporary writers, and more cross-cutting approaches, by literary genres or cultural areas.

Geopolitics - To understand a buzzing world, this collection of recent works (regularly updated, at least twice a year) offers substantial regional studies as well as approaches about international criminality, terrorism, religions, cultural “soft power” or energy.

Philosophical Studies – This collection of more than 200 titles gathers recent books, representative of philosophical research in the last twenty years, and History of Philosophy’s major works from Antiquity to nowadays. Greek and Roman philosophers are highly represented as well as great figures of 17th century like Hobbes or Spinoza, but also authors of 20th century such as Derrida, Foucault and Jankélévitch. Several current studies, with authors like Kostas Axelos or Marcel Conche, complete this reference collection, from antique wisdom to major contemporary philosophers.

Educational Sciences - This collection, constituted from the catalogs of two major publishers in educational sciences, ESF and Retz, offers a wide choice of theoretical and practical books intended for the students and the teachers of any levels, from nursery school to higher education. All situations linked to education are dealt with: the educational methods and the history of education, as the various education policies and the recent use of the new technologies. Numerous theoretical schools are represented, in particular through the works of Rémi Brissiaud and Philippe Meirieu, considered as classics. The set becomes a library of unprecedented reference.

Sciences of Religions - This collection of more than 150 titles covers the European religious history from Antiquity to the present day, addressing all the theological domains, from great doctrinal controversies to pastoral and liturgical activities. It contains many biographies of spiritual figures (from the best known, like Saint Augustine, to others less documented as Isidore Pelusius), historiographical, exegetical or patristic studies... There are classic collections, just like the series “History of the Dioceses of France”, “Maria: Studies on the Blessed Virgin”, “Dictionary of the religious world in contemporary France” or “Bible of all times” (Bible studies). The contemporary debates of the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches are also represented, as is the multiplication of ecumenical initiatives to establish a true interreligious dialogue.