All these nasty things were going on in my own country, Mme. Castellane! elaborated the protg moments later, appalled by revelations read in La Croix about the authoritarian domestic policy long implemented by her native lands former government. One which she, like it or not, as daughter of the minister of defense, engaged to the premier was an ancillary member too. I didnt know any of this was happening. And right under my nose too! Well, if I wasnt nave, I was awesome, really awesomeuninformed!
Continuing the story of hope and struggle that began in "Messenger" and "Courtesans Part I," author Michael Polowetzky's third novel, "Courtesans Part II," focuses mainly on Countess Celine de Montfort, the present leader of her unique clan. The reader learns about Celine's childhood and adolescence. The reader learns how Celine is shaped by her idealistic mother and more worldly-wise aunt. In addition, the reader learns about Celine's unexpected friendship with the expatriate Iranian-American scholar Ashraf Kermanshani. In winning for her new friend the academic acceptance she deserves, Celine demonstrates that the Montfort Ladies are the molders of contemporary statecraft and the shapers of modern culture.
Prequel to "Courtesans, Part, "Messenger" tells the story of Pascale Kedari, a highly artistic teenager from the Middle East. On a first trip abroad, she is marooned in France after the revolution breaks out back in her homeland. In the course of the story, young Pascale is befriended by several local women. Among them: Matilda, a leftwing academic from the wrong side of the tracks; Veronique, a former prima ballerina, her brilliant career suddenly cut short; Sister Claire, a social activist nun with a secret; and Raymonde, an Olympic gold medalist, and celebrity. All these women love Pascale deeply, fully appreciate the girl's artistic talent, and want it known to the world. At the same time, each benefactor sees the teenager as a vehicle for the vicarious fulfillment of own frustrated adult ambitions. Propelled, she likes it or not to leadership of a growing social movement, Pascale is faced with a dilemma. Can she both win fame as an artist and answer the hopes and dreams of her fervent followers?
Courtesans, Part III (Finale): Rolande de Montfort goes on her pensive journey across France, visiting many famous sites and being asked to direct visitors to the numerous places often overlooked on traditional tours. At last, realizing her place in life is back in the capital, so she returns. Soon after reaching the capital, Rolande encounters "The Red Virgin"-Sister Claire, the most famous of the "Five Good Ladies" who continue to advocate the cause of the martyred artist Pascale Kedarfi . Since that Middle Eastern teenage painter's death, President Markovsky and his regime have attempted to discredit Pascale and her murals. Sister Claire soon persuades her followers to choose Rolande as the new leader of their social-political reformist cause. Rolande accepts. She also makes friends with Pascale's step-mother, Madame Castellane, and Countess Celine's math-whiz chum, Ashraf Kermanshani. Not long afterward, the French military (with NATO compliance) attempts to force Markovsky to abandon his ties with Rolande's mother and the Montfort Ladies. Markovsky, a self-seeking coward, quickly complies with army demands. During the ensuing political crisis, Rolande comes to the fore. She rallies the people of France against the military coup and saves democracy. Believing like her mother "that women should not be involved in politics," Rolande, in the end, withdraws from center stage to await the day when she succeeds her mother as the Montfort countess that subtly directs European events from the dainty sidelines. The other novel's main characters Ashraf Kermanshani, Sister Claire, and the other "Five Good Ladies," acquire interesting historical places.
The Montfort Ladies are movers and shakers. From their gilded cage in elite French society, these noble dames have discreetly engineered the course of much of European history for five centuries. They gently make and unmake kings, presidents and popes. They employ their behind the scene influence to forge historic alliances, settle bitter international disputes, establish famous regimes, bring seeming intractable enemies together as friends. This may be a man's word, they concede, but that doesn't mean ladies, too, can't have a little say in events. "So long as you let them believe it was their idea, that they are the ones making the decisions," women are advised, "men can be led by the nose all the way to China and back!" Currently, no one is better in mastering this subtle, convoluted, political charade, than the clan's present leader, the gifted, fetching Celine de Montfort. A dutiful mother, she also devotes much time grooming her daughters to one day succeed. Raised in this environment, her younger child is at first eager to continue enhancing her clan's unique heritage. Then, one day, a series of events, both expected and accidental occur leading Rolande to wonder if her true role in life is perhaps found along another path.
The Montfort Ladies are movers and shakers. From their gilded cage in elite French society, these noble dames have discreetly engineered the course of much of European history for five centuries. They gently make and unmake kings, presidents, and popes. They employ their behind the scene influence to forge historic alliances, settle bitter international disputes, establish famous regimes, bring seeming intractable enemies together as friends. This may be a man's word, they conceded, but that doesn't mean ladies, too, can't have a little say in events... "So long as you let them believe it was their idea, that they are the ones making the decisions," women are advised, "men can be led by the nose all the way to China and back!" Currently, no one is better in mastering this subtle, convulted, political charade, than the clan's present leader, the gifted, fetching Celine de Montfort. A dutiful mother, she also devotes much time grooming her daughters to one day succeed. Raised in this environment, her younger child is at first eager to continue enhancing her clan's unique heritage. Then, one day, a series of events, both expected and accidental occur leading Rolande to wonder if her true role in life is perhaps found along another path.
This book makes no attempt to deny the autocratic nature of Napoleon's regime and no effort to apologize for it. Nevertheless, it will demonstrate that the Emperor's constant determination to be a champion of letters assured the preservation of some measure of free expression in all the various areas of the literary community: in fiction, academia, drama, even in the most closely controlled area - journalism. Even in the instances where literary free expression was suppressed, Napoleon's attachment to literature assured that his actions were taken with a minimum amount of force.
All these nasty things were going on in my own country, Mme. Castellane! elaborated the protg moments later, appalled by revelations read in La Croix about the authoritarian domestic policy long implemented by her native lands former government. One which she, like it or not, as daughter of the minister of defense, engaged to the premier was an ancillary member too. I didnt know any of this was happening. And right under my nose too! Well, if I wasnt nave, I was awesome, really awesomeuninformed!
This book makes no attempt to deny the autocratic nature of Napoleon's regime and no effort to apologize for it. Nevertheless, it will demonstrate that the Emperor's constant determination to be a champion of letters assured the preservation of some measure of free expression in all the various areas of the literary community: in fiction, academia, drama, even in the most closely controlled area - journalism. Even in the instances where literary free expression was suppressed, Napoleon's attachment to literature assured that his actions were taken with a minimum amount of force.
As the tricolor rose over revolutionary France, language, with its ability to define ideals and allegiances, was both a threat to authority and weapon to be wielded. In the early years of the Republic, the Académie Française, the royal body responsible for the French language, was suppressed by the National Convention at the urging of the Abbé Grégoire and the artist Jacques-Louis David. However, by 1795, the National Convention recognized that language could be used to its advantage, leading it to commission a fifth edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, which would unquestionably become the most controversial edition in the Académie's history. The National Convention expected this dictionary to champion the ideals of Revolution and Republic, but when it appeared three years later it did quite the opposite. Instead, the fifth edition virtually ignored the Revolution and the linguistic innovations that had transformed the French language, even omitting two of the most famous and enduring neologisms spawned by the Revolution--ancien régime and Terror. Present-tense definitions of abolished institutions and anachronistic values dominated the work and the Revolution was consigned to a brief and hastily-prepared supplement at the end of the second volume. Because of its failure to capture the current state of the French language, most contemporaries judged it harshly, and its deficiencies led the Parisian publisher Nicolas Moutardier to publish a competing dictionary in 1802. The dictionary became the focus of protracted litigation that Napoleon Bonaparte's government increasingly used to assert its control over language. Indeed, Bonaparte met personally with the commission of the Institut National (the republican successor to the Académie) and made clear his desire that the new edition not contain revolutionary neologisms. Eager to see the new edition appear, the Bonapartist regime committed financial resources and established a timetable for its completion within five years. However, it was only in 1835, after the fall of Bonaparte and the Bourbons, that the sixth edition would appear. Although the Académie was one of the most prominent institutions under the Old Regime, scholarship on the Académie remains largely neglected. Drawing on previously untapped sources in the Archives de l'Institut and Archives Nationales, The Place of Words is the first book-length study of the controversial fifth edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Spanning more than half a century of changing regimes, this study provides unique insight into the ways in which each government, from the publication of the fourth edition in 1762 to the sixth in 1835, viewed the role of language as an instrument of control.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81) was one of the most important political figures in 19th century Britain. However, before rising to political prominence he had established himself as a major literary figure. This set takes a critical look at Disraeli's early work. Volume 1 includes Vivian Grey (1826–7).
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