Histoire dessinée de la France #1

A handsome launch to Histoire dessinée de la France, this 2017 volume from La Découverte pairs historian Sylvain Venayre with cartoonist Étienne Davodeau for an ambitious illustrated journey through French history subtitled Les Origines. The cover sets the playful, thought-provoking tone beautifully: a modern man stands beside a parked hatchback on a hilltop, gazing across a sweeping landscape at a cluster of historical figures — including what appears to be a Napoleonic-era soldier and a portly bourgeois gentleman — as if past and present are quietly sizing each other up. It's a wonderfully clever visual invitation to explore how France became France, blending rigorous scholarship with the warmth and accessibility that bande dessinée does best.