for him in 1856 the first prize of the Academy, and in 1869 the grand biennial prize of 20,000 francs. A popular abridgement, L'Histoire de France Populaire (7 vols.) was published in 1867. This, together with the continuation, Histoire de France depuis 1789 jusqu'à nos jours (History of France from 1789 to the Present Time) (6 vols. 1878-1883), gives a complete history of France, superseding Sismondi's Histoire des Français as the #1 French history of the 19th century. Alas, this monumental work has not withstood the test of time. Martin's romanticized descriptions of Gauls as representing the Druidic key to France's essentialist "primitive tradition" are based on his longstanding close ties with the Saint-Simonian counter-Enlightenment philosopher Jean Reynaud rather than on objective history. However flawed, his popularized accounts gave a great impetus to Celtic linguistic and anthropological studies. His knowledge of the Middle Ages is inadequate, and his criticisms are not discriminating. As a free-thinking liberal republican outside the Roman Catholic Church, his prejudices often biased his judgment on the political and religious history of the ancien régime. The last six volumes, devoted to the 17th and 18th centuries, are superior to the earlier ones. Other writings In his essay De la France, de son génie et de ses destinées (1847) he sought to give the French a sense of their essentially national destiny within the framework of Romantic nationalism. Other minor works included Daniel Manin (1860), La Russie et l'Europe (1866), Etudes d'archéologie celtique (1872), and Les Napoléon et les frontières de la France (1874). Notes References External links 1810 births 1883 deaths People from Saint-Quentin, Aisne Politicians from Hauts-de-France Opportunist Republicans Members of the National Assembly (1871) French Senators of the Third Republic Senators of Aisne Members of the Ligue des Patriotes 19th-century French historians French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French male writers Members of the Académie Française Anti-Russian sentiment