A forceful piece of reporting sprinkled with personal memories. . . . A valuable introduction to contemporary France.

Notable Book of the Year 1999

France is a subject worthy of the serious attention it receives in Fenby’s France on the Brink, which offers the most comprehensive and entertaining tour to appear between hard covers in a long time. Mr. Fenby is eminently equipped for the task. Like many foreigners he has been seduced by the French way of life; unlike them, he sees through the country’s myths and raises serious questions about whether France, as now constituted, can long endure.

[A] highly readable description of France’s current travails, full of vivid portraits and anecdotes. The picture he draws of contemporary France is to the point and true to life. Instructive and entertaining.

Fascinating. France on the Brinkis a fine, immensely readable work of reportage; it is packed with first-hand dispatches from the impoverished urban outskirts, from across the countryside, and from the highest spheres of influence.

[Fenby’s] book has to be one of the most comprehensive and personal from a foreigner living in [France], for it is based on years of firsthand reporting and conversations with businessmen, ministers, and heads of state.

There are more facts and stories in Fenby’s primer on what ails France than there are bubbles in a magnum of champagne. [Critiques of France] have never been collected in one place with such remarkable detail and insight. . . . Observant and knowledgeable.

A rich masterful study of modern France. . . . A better guide than Fenby could hardly be found to weigh the opportunities and dangers that face France in the coming century.

This is a fascinating, provocative, and highly readable book that should appeal to all those interested in contemporary French society and culture.

Readable and entertaining, will be greatly appreciated.

Fenby is critical but not hostile; his firsthand experience, both as a reporter and as an in-law, enlivens his book even as it deepens our understanding.

A thought-provoking and well-written book by someone who cares about a great country and a great people.

France on the Brinkis a wonderful and moving book.

A witty and engaging confession of a love-hate for a complex country.

Read Jonathan Fenby, and you’ll understand France better and enjoy it more.