The English have always regarded the French with a passionate mixture of love and hatred. Simultaneously divided and linked by the English Channel or la Manche both countries continue profoundly to affect the other for good or ill. In his delightfully impressionistic appreciation of Britain s closest neighbour, first published in 1987, unashamed Francophile Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson separates cliché from fallacy to reveal the essence of France and the French. A book which will have a considerable appeal for all those who love France; for in Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson they will meet a kindred spirit… Financial Times Whets the reader s appetite for the next visit across the Channel. Evening Standard Urbane and charming. Times