Title: I do not speak French
Review: I have read several of Mr. Hastings' books and enjoyed all of them except this one. I feel like I missed very important information especially in chapter three. Yes, I could have looked up the French, though translating whole sentences is difficult though in some cases I did. My chain of thought was constantly interrupted trying to translate the French. It is arrogant on his part and condescending to expect the average reader to understand French in order to read his book. The practice of using French was very prevalent in fiction before 1960 and always irritated me when I was younger. It still irritates me. Would a Frenchman ignorant of English enjoy reading a French history that used English frequently, I expect not. Mr. Hastings I am impressed with your command of French, alas I do not posses your fluency.
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