What made French people lonely, self-conscious, worried, bored, hysterical, violent and have more or fewer children? How did they behave as soldiers, colonists and criminals? How can one make sense of their religious and political squabbling? This volume is indispensable to all who are interested not only in France, but in the history of psychology, literature and intellectual life, which it illuminates with a wealth of astonishing insights and amusing detail.