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