We may think we know its history, its culture and its people from long-ago lessons at school.

However, the notion of "the French" as one nation is relatively recent and actually rather misleading; in order to discover the "real" past of France, it's not only necessary to go back in time, but also to go at a slower pace than modern life generally allows.

The result of 14,000 miles covered by bicycle (and four years spent in the library), here, at last, is a book that tells the whole story.