By Elinor Evans

Published: Monday, 18 October 2021 at 12:00 am


Following the fortunes of one extended family in a south-western French town in the 18th and 19th centuries, Emma Rothschild’s Cundill History Prize-shortlisted book An Infinite History builds up a picture of what life was like for ordinary people in provincial France. She tells Rhiannon Davies how generations of the family survived revolution, wars and sweeping economic changes, to reveal a fascinating story of France’s history from below.