Showing Jewels of French History Books - The Lauragais Story from the South of France by Hugh Nicklin

Toulouse, Carcassonne, Castelnaudary and Beyond

Following his successful ‘History of Limoux’, Hugh Nicklin offers as the second in his series 'Jewels of French History Books', the 'History of the Lauragais' This tells the story of the land which was the reality behind the legendary ‘Land of Cockaigne’. With an area of just over 800 square miles (making it a little smaller than the state of Rhode Island, and about the size of a medium English county such as Kent or Herefordshire) and lying immediately south east of Toulouse, primarily in the Languedoc Roussillon region of the South of France, the Lauragais is an economic and strategic hotspot of enormous historical significance. This entirely new History of the area brings you many facts about France, its follies and foibles, its Tom Jones and its Silvio Berlusconi packaged up in the person of the troubadour William IX of Aquitaine, and Almodis of la Marche, bigamist extraordinaire. We meet Raymond VI of Toulouse who was ‘in several battles but never drew his sword’, along with a royal voyeur and a kamikaze Duke.

Cathars and the Canal Du Midi

From the Albigensian Crusade to the naughty boys who disrupt the flirtations of their rivals, interrupt wartime bread supplies and uncouple trains from their engines. The dialogue describes the horrors of the tenth century anarchy, the bloody suppression of the Cathars by Simon De Montfort, the Black Prince’s cold and calculating terrorism and the James Bond antics of William of Nogaret who purloined a Pope and trumped the Knights Templar. Readers will surely appreciate the constructive genius of Peter-Paul Riquet, builder of the Canal du Midi and the most admirable tax-collector since St Matthew. Respect, too, the business acumen of those who brought wealth to the area by selling wheat, tin, salt, woad and, in modern times, the mighty Airbuses which wheel over the area in their testing routines. Enjoy and learn from a book where Cicero meets Wilfrid the Hairy, the Cathars have been virtually eradicated and everyone eats Cassoulet

History of France & Languedoc Roussillon

This is 'French History' at its best, defined to the finest level of detail in this most enlightening of books about France. The 'Lauragais' has been at the centre of the action from the traumatic tenth century until present day, including playing a significant role in the formation of modern France during the 13th century. Although this particular story starts much earlier than that providing the reader with an insight into how the Carcassonne plains which run into the adjacent rolling hills and mountainous terrains were actually formed.

What is delivered in this book is an intriguing account of the history of France from the beginnings of a human presence right up to the 21st century with all that goes in between. Some of the main markers are the Albigensian Crusade, medieval mayhem and cruelty, the German occupation and the evolution of a region that has seen fortunes won and lost, the building of fantastic architecture and the establishment of a French culture born from trials and tribulations over hundreds of years.