In this 1994 book, Xavier de Planhol and Paul Claval, two of France's leading scholars in the field, trace the historical geography of their country from its roots in the Roman province of Gaul to the 1990s. They demonstrate how, for centuries, France was little more than an ideological concept, despite its natural physical boundaries and long territorial history. They examine the relatively late development of a more complex territorial geography, involving political, religious, cultural, agricultural and industrial unities and diversities. The conclusion reached is that only in the twentieth century had France achieved a profound territorial unity and only now are the fragmentations of the past being overwritten.

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Themes in the Historical Geography of France compiles several selected themes in the historical geography of France. This book discusses the practice of historical geography in France; peopling and the origins of settlement; early urban development; and retreat of rural settlement. The regional contrasts in agrarian structure; reclamation of coastal marshland; petite culture on 1750-1850; and reclamation of wasteland during the 18th and 19th centuries are also elaborated. This compilation likewise covers the historical geography of Western France; urban growth on 1500-1900; and agricultural change and industrial development in the 18th and 19th centuries. This publication is beneficial to historians and geographers aiming to acquire knowledge of the historical geography of France.