Tricouleur - The French Overseas Empire
By Raymond Betts
Published by Gordon & Cremonesi: UK 1978 1st Edition
With Original Unclipped Dustjacket
"Tricouleur: The French Overseas Empire is a comprehensive and highly readable survey of the rise, expansion, and eventual decline of the French colonial empire, written by distinguished historian Raymond Betts, Professor of History at the University of Kentucky. First published in 1978, the work examines the vast network of French possessions that once stretched across North and West Africa, Indochina, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and beyond, exploring both the ambitions and contradictions of French imperialism. Betts presents the empire as a complex legacy of exploration, commerce, military power, cultural exchange, and political upheaval.
Rather than offering a purely celebratory or condemnatory account, Betts adopts a balanced and critical approach, investigating the ideologies that underpinned French colonial expansion, including the notion of the mission civilisatrice or "civilising mission." He discusses the economic motivations behind empire-building, the experiences of colonised peoples, and the enduring tensions between republican ideals and imperial realities. Particular attention is given to major colonial theatres such as Algeria and Indochina, the emergence of nationalist movements, and the turbulent process of decolonisation that reshaped France's role in the twentieth century.
Published by Gordon & Cremonesi in London in 1978, this first edition is an important scholarly work and remains one of the few single-volume histories of the French Overseas Empire available in English. Illustrated with photographic plates and supported by a substantial bibliography and index, it is both an accessible introduction for general readers and a valuable reference for students of colonial history, French studies, and the wider history of European imperialism. Presented here in its original unclipped dustjacket, it represents a handsome and increasingly uncommon study of one of history's most influential colonial empires."
Light wear and fading to dustjacket as shown. Binding is in excellent condition with no loose pages. Pages are clean. A nice copy in very good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
Size 27cm x 17.5cm x 2.5cm - 174 Pages
