The number of travelers France welcomes each year is as great as its population — some sixty million. They come to see not only the latest fashions in clothes, art and cuisine, but also the vestiges of a past that encompasses a half million years — vestiges that include Neolithic cave paintings, Roman villas and temples, medieval cathedrals and royal chateaux.<P>This concise volume outlines French history from prehistoric times to the present. Among the diverse themes discussed are the relations of France with its neighbors, the ever-present tension between national unity and regional autonomy, the role of the Church, and developments in public works and education. In order to give this vast panorama a human face, special attention is given to the life of at least one individual in each major period.