Plon Foreign Rights Guide FBF 2015

Frankfurt Book Fair

2015

Foreign rights guide

2 Contact : Florence Maletrez [email protected]

The Editions Plon were founded in 1852 by Henri Plon and his two brothers. They were given the title of Impri-meur de l’Empereur (Emperor’s publisher) and published the correspondence of Louis XIII of France, Marie Antoi-nette and Napoleon I of France.

We publish numerous international stars, among whom Jane Fonda, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, but also works from personalities of the political world - The Memoirs of Winston Churchill and George W. Bush for example. In literature, we published Salman Rushdie, Norman Mailer, Nadine Gordimer, Anne Rice or Donna Tartt among many other international publications.

Still on the international level, Plon has connections with the main publishers worldwide. We managed, among others, the World Rights of Clara Rojas’s book – a hostage of the FARC with Ingrid Betancourt - and it was sold all over the world and was at the origin of a movie.

Plon is being a leader in France in the field of the political, economic and societal documents. Editions Plon counts in its fund extremely prestigious collections and authors such as Claude Lévy-Strauss. We published the works of several French Presidents such as the General de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing or François Mitterrand, and titles from the women around them, Claude Pompidou, Bernadette Chirac and more recently, Geneviève De Gaulle-Anthonioz.

Plon Publishers now belongs to Editis Group - the 2nd publishing group in France - which belongs to the Spa-nish group Planeta.

Plon is one of flagship brands of this group, both by its history and by the prestigious choices of its publications regarding documents and general literature.

12 , avenue d’Italie75013 Paris

France

+33 (0) 1 44 16 09 30

An imprint of

mailto:florence.maletrez%40editions-plon.com%20?subject=

3Contact : Florence Maletrez [email protected]

Contents

Literature

Running after Shadows 4Hold Back the Night 5No Ice on an Empty Heart 6Our Solitary Souls 7IF I WERE RICH 8The Judge 9Around the Sun 10We’ll Cross Together 11ANNE F. 12BACKLIST 13

real life stories

The Blows 16Love in Autistan 17I HAVE BEEN TO HELL 18the first woman filmmaker in history 19Hugo Pratt: Through the Labyrinth 20Dialogues : geneviève de gaulle -anthonioz & Germaine Tillon 21backlist 22

essays

The Erasmus Generation 24Bismarck herring : the german poison 25about islam 26The Bible and the Coran 27AMAZING AND 28UNEXPLAINED STORIES 29Paris’s Grand Opera House 30why are our children so uneducated? 31backlist 32

philosophy

godless and lawless 34what unites us ? 35Friendship 36Snobbery 37Backlist 38

Lover’s dictionnaries

A Paris Lover’s Dictionary 40A theater Lover’s Dictionary 41A Philosophy Lover’s Dictionary 42A JESUS Lover’s Dictionary 43BACKLIST 44



Running after ShadowsSigolène VINSON

Born in 1974, SIgolène vinson , a former lawyer, is a journalist (Charlie Hebdo, Causette and others) and a novelist. She was raised in Djibouti and now lives in Paris.

A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 2 5 0 p a g e s

P a u l D e v i l l e w o r k s a s a t r a d e r i n A f r i c a f o r a C h i n e s e c o r p o r at i o n , w h i l e a l s o t r y i n g t o

f i n d p o e m s t h at A r t h u r R i m b a u d n e v e r w r o t e . A g r i p p i n g i m m e r s i o n i n t h e m e c h a n i s m s o f

g l o b a l i s at i o n , a s w e l l a s a n o d e t o p o e t r y.

Frenchman Paul Deville works for a large Chinese company based in East Africa. From the Bab el Mandeb Straits to the Gulf of Aden, he travels around the Horn of Africa in a “pearl necklace” strategy, building a network of naval bases to guarantee access to the natural resources that China so desperately needs.

A talented economist, Paul is torn between his contribution to the new Chinese imperialism and his dreams of poetry and fiction. To keep from losing himself, he searches tirelessly for Arthur Rimbaud’s «unwritten writing.»

Aghast at the damage he is wreaking in a part of the world that has fascinated him since he was a child, he flees from port to port, leading to encounters that are like pearls strung on the necklace of his tragic fate: Mariam, the Somali fisherwoman who feeds herself with fish, not hope; Cush, a former illegal immigrant whose only dream is to make it back to the West; Louise, a fellow Frenchperson, who is going back to Dunkirk with her dissatisfaction about her life that seems almost obscene in a place where people are dying of hunger; and finally, Harg, the Afar ancestor who joins Paul in his

quest for Rimbaud’s lost poems, but who can’t ignore the damage the Western World has inflicted on his country and his culture. Having been driven by poverty and war into piracy, Harg will be the instrument of Paul’s tragic end.

Literature



Denis TILLINAC Literature

Hold Back the NightT h r o u g h t h e p r i s m o f a p a s s i o n at e a f f a i r

b e t w e e n t w o b o u r g e o i s p r o v i n c i a l s i n t h e i r 6 0 s , t h e s w e e t ly c r u e l s t o r y o f a g e n e r at i o n

– t h e l o s t c h i l d r e n o f t h e B a b y B o o m .

A u g u s t 2 0 1 52 2 0 p a g e s

This is the story of a youthful affair between two aging lovers.François and Hélène are both in their sixties. They’re both married

and have children, a senior-discount card and parents in either elder-care or the ground.

Indolent, absent-minded François is a doctor with an office in a village by the Loire River, with a view of Chaumont Castle, and a blue-blood spouse named Claire.

Bored Hélène, the disappointed wife of a nouveau-riche ad man, is the mother of a social-climbing 40-something on the verge of his first divorce.

Love – the real thing – takes them both by surprise. At first, they have a hard time believing it’s true. They dedicate their lives, body and soul, to this burning passion whose secrecy both protects and imprisons them. The tight little social circle of their provincial town will carry them far away, with both crazy happiness and deep sadness.

This is the sweetly cruel story of a generation – the lost children of the Baby Boom.

This is the miraculous and truthful tale of the search for eternal youth.

This is a timeless love story in a romantic country setting that is perfect for pinnacles of passion.

This is a very French tale, told with the gently mischievous plume of an expert in nostalgia.

Author of over 40 books – fiction, non-fiction and poetry – that have earned him many

accolades, denis tillinac ’s work includes Je nous revois… (I Can Still See Us… Gallimard, 2006, Folio, 2008), Le Dictionnaire amoureux de la France (A France Lover’s Dictionary, Plon, 2008) and La nuit étoilée (The Starry Night, Plon, 2013).

- on the Goncourt prize’s longlist -



patrick besson

Literature

No Ice on an Empty HeartV i n c e n t L a g a r d e at t r a c t s t h e m o s t s t u n n i n g w o m e n , d e s p i t e h i s w e a k h e a r t a n d r e p u l s i v e

l o o k s . W h e n t h e s u b l i m e K a r i m a a g r e e s t o m a r r y h i m , n o o n e c a n u n d e r s ta n d w h y…

j a n u a r y 2 0 1 62 0 0 p a g e s

Vincent Lagarde has a weak heart and an equally weak character; yet despite his many flaws – chronic congestive heart failure, an (overly?) close relationship to his mother, lack of education, ugliness – he manages to seduce the most beautiful women, marry them, and turn them into his devoted full-time care-givers. His neighbour watches first Vanessa, then Sonia, each more beautiful than the last, move in next door – and tries to draw them to his bed and to resolve the mystery of their fascination with Vincent.

When rich, beautiful, independent Karima’s turn comes, he becomes obsessed with trying to understand how a woman like that could marry a man like Vincent. What event in her past could push her into his arms? Is it really just another love story?

in an atmosphere not unlike a Simenon novel, Patrick Besson explores small and large lies, betrayal and guilt, stinginess and family plotting, all over a while offering a social critique that is no less ferocious for staying in the background.

An atypical and iconoclastic writer, Patrick Besson has had over 40 novels published. He won the 1985 Grand prix de l’Académie française and the 1995 Prix Renaudot. He has been a member of the Prix Renaudot jury since 2000, and is a feared literary critic…



Our Solitary SoulsLuc BLANVILLAIN

Luc Blanvillain has written several well-received YA novels. He is a professor of French and literature, and lives in Morlaix, Brittany.

A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 3 5 0 p a g e s

I n b o t h h i s c a r e e r a n d h i s c o u p l e , C l é m e n t a n a ly s e s a n d c a l c u l at e s e v e r y t h i n g … u n t i l

t h e d ay h e m e e t s e m o t i o n a l ly d a m a g e d , u n p r e d i c ta b l e M e r y l .

At Vogal Software, a high-tech company on the thirteenth floor of a skyscraper overlooking Paris, ambitious Clément has been managing his career skilfully. Super-adaptable, super-connected, Clément analyses, stocks, sorts and takes advantage of the slightest sign of weakness to surge past his rivals. His girlfriend, Myriam, is his most faithful ally in his battle for power. Their evenings together have turned into affectionate debriefings about missed chances and trying again. But the world isn’t that cut and dry. Complex, messy life oozes in, slowing him down, overwhelming his thoughts… and leading him to meet Meryl.

She is a young woman who doesn’t go outside very much, and throws up a lot. Sensitive, strange, emotionally damaged, she doesn’t try to appear normal. She is the boss’s daughter, and her power is incalculable.

An unusual relationship soon springs up between them. A new alliance is possible, a Faustian contract. Will Clément lose his freedom or win the place he so ardently desires: a glass-walled corner

office, endless carpeting and the luxury of silence.

With precision and delicacy, Luc Blanvillain reveals the absurdity of our contemporary quirks, and questions the ties that hold us back: the burden of parental love, all-consuming ambition, the soft fragility of couples, the tedium of always having to be what people expect.

Literature



A s o c i a l c o m e d y a b o u t t h e c l a s h o f c u lt u r e s , f a m i ly, m o n e y a n d l o v e

in less than two years, Franck Marcou finds himself unemployed, poor and a widower, cast out with his three daughters to a gloomy little apartment in the center of the provincial city of Nantes.

still, he refuses to accept failure and continues to believe his luck – with a lot of willpower – can change. He starts a small computer business and the first clients he finds are the Baroness Elisabeth Vaugrenard and her daughter, Julia.

what can the Marcous’ warm, noisy, modern but poverty-stricken household possibly have in common with the opulent but tragic solitude of his wealthy clients? Franck, who tends to be ill-at-ease in the world in general and in high society in particular, can’t yet imagine to what degree these two women with strong personalities will transform his way of life. Bildungsroman, social comedy about the clash of cultures, family, money and love, this novel cheerfully tackles such existential issues as abandonment, resilience, choices, success in life and last but not least, the possibility of happiness.

Sophie Talneau

m ay 2 0 1 52 0 0 p a g e s

Sophie Talneau , a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Nantes, worked in the marketing department of a laboratory before becoming a corporate journalist. She now writes screenplays and lives in Nantes. She has published On vous rappelera (We’ll call you back) (Hachette Littératures, 2005) and La working girl (Stock, 2007).

« A marvelous comedy »- ELLe-

Literature

IF I WERE RICH



The JudgeChristophe lambert

Literature

This is the second novel written by Christophe Lambert , actor who starred in Greystoke and Subway. His first, La fille porte-bonheur (The girl who brings luck) was well-received (15,000 copies sold).

J u n e 2 0 1 5 2 8 8 p a g e s

I n j a i l f o r av e n g i n g t h e m u r d e r o f h i s w i f e a n d d a u g h t e r , C h r i s t o p h e K e l l e r s t u d i e s t o

b e c o m e a l a w y e r , t h e n s e t s o u t r e l e n t l e s s ly t o h u n t d o w n e v i l d o e r s .

Convicted for taking revenge on the men who murdered his wife and daughter, Christophe Keller studies law in prison. Realizing how often the legal system is flawed or powerless, Keller turns into a bringer of justice, settling conflicts among his fellow inmates using his rare charisma and exceptional physical strength.

When he comes out, he decides to become “The Judge”.

He walks the streets, stalking villains and righting wrongs. It all starts with an incident in the subway. He stops a gang of delinquents from attacking a woman. When the brief fight is over, he forces the last surviving thug to transmit his message: “The Judge is here”. Keller then disappears behind his mysterious vigilante role. Who is this elusive avenger? The media want to know. The police try to stop him: no one has the right to take the law into his own hands. But the Judge is wily, with an infuriating knack for slipping through their net.

Then one day a woman tips him off about all the corruption in the city, making a mockery of law and order. Now both organized crime and the police are after the Judge. Only one way out: attack.

+15,000 copies sold !



Around the Sunkarine silla

W h e n L o u i s e w a l k s a w ay f r o m e v e r y t h i n g f o r a n e w l o v e a n d a n e w l i f e i n V i e t n a m , s h e e r a s e s h e r p a s t

a n d e v e r y o n e w h o w a s i n i t. I n F r a n c e , h e r d a u g h t e r , M a r i e , t h i n k s s h e ’ s d e a d .

j a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

One rainy day, Louise meets a man in a train. Within minutes, the young woman has decided to leave her boringly comfortable life behind for the sake of this man who smiles at her, whose green eyes look straight into her own, and who describes the names, the towns and the oceans of his country, Vietnam. His happiness contaminates her, sweeping her off her feet.

With him, she is reborn. In a tiny little house at the southern tip of Vietnam, in the middle of vast expanses of shimmering green marshland, she discovers true love, pleasure and joy, and gives birth to a son who is as beautiful as the land of his father, which has become his mother’s home, too.

But Louise has left behind a husband whom she married because she didn’t know how to say no; a mother who mumbles while staring

Playwright, filmmaker and screenplay-writer, karine Silla is the author of Monsieur est mort, a critically acclaimed début novel published by Plon in 2014.

M o n s i e u r i s d e a d

Literature

into the void of her memory; and a child, Marie, whose needs she never seemed to understand and whose existence she has hidden from the man on the train.

Despite her conviction that she has done the right thing, the secret gradually overwhelms Louise, Marie and their loved ones.

A f t e r M o n s i e u r e s t m o r t , K a r i n e S i l l a c o n t i n u e s t o e x p l o r e h o w f a m i ly s e c r e t s c o n t i n u e t o e c h o a n d r i c o c h e t.



We’ll Cross Together

Currently a doctor in Paris, Denis lemasson has worked for Doctors Without Borders, in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Les routes fantômes (2004, Folies d’encre) was his first novel.

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 6

I n t h e c e n t r e o f P a r i s , L u c , a f o r m e r F r e n c h d o c t o r , w i t n e s s e s t h e m u r d e r o f a n A f g h a n i r e f u g e e . W h y d i d

h e h av e t o d i e ?

On an April Sunday in Villemin Square, in the centre of Paris, Luc is an eyewitness to the murder of an Afghani refugee. Why did he have to die? In order to answer the dead man’s 4-year-old daughter’s question, Luc launches into an investigation that will revive his own past as a humanitarian doctor, seven years after he left Afghanistan.

Caught in his own separation and fatherhood issues, in attempting to explore the life of Zaher, the victim, Luc is drawn into the previously unseen world of refugees and of those who assist and guide them: social workers, volunteers, doctors, celebrities, politicians, police officers and more… The stories of Mehdi and Wahid, two Afghans who describe their surreal travels from Kabul to Paris, gradually unveiling their truth about the murder, are woven into Luc’s investigation.

how can the story of two Afghans who have travelled halfway around the world in search of shelter have dire consequences thousands of kilometres away? How can a fight in a Parisian park echo in a village Nangarhâr Province?

This fascinating investigation creates a crime-fiction atmosphere while giving a face and a body to the issue of immigration, for a multiple-narrator novel that calls our entire society into question.

Denis LEMASSON Literature



Hafid AggouneLiterature

ANNE F.A f t e r o n e o f h i s s t u d e n t s c o m m i t s a t e r r o r i s t

at ta c k , a y o u n g t e a c h e r t u r n s t o A n n e F r a n k , h i s “J e w i s h l i t t l e s i s t e r . ” A m i r r o r - n o v e l t h at e x p l o r e s

o u r c o n t e m p o r a r y i d e n t i t y c r i s i s , r a d i c a l i s at i o n , t h e r o l e o f e d u c at i o n a n d o f t r a n s m i t t i n g

d e m o c r at i c p r i n c i p l e s .

A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 2 0 0 p a g e s

After one of his students commits a terrorist attack, the narrator, an idealistic writer and teacher who was devoted both to the transmission of knowledge and to literature, is devastated. As a son of immigrant parents who achieved integration through education, he feels overwhelmingly guilty and unable to shoulder the burden of a failure that he sees as entirely his. So he burrows into his worn old copy of Anne Frank’s Diary, which he hadn’t opened since his school days. In a desperate bid to find meaning in his life once again, he decides to write a letter to his “Jewish little sister,” bringing her back to life in his pages. Will his moving letter bring this man – who is searching for a way to make peace with both himself and his era – out of the darkness and back into the light?

While reminding us of the power of books and of words, our still youthful forty-something teacher will examine his own existence, his vocation and his country’s youth, many of whom are torn between tragic events and an identity crisis that reverberates with the darkest pages of modern European history.

He also portrays a father who was essential to his son’s education about both civic and secular principles, a father who ran marathons to try to hold back the passage of time. But above all, he looks directly at the dirty little secret that no one in his family ever mentions: his mother’s Jewish roots. Unmentioned until that point, they will form the heart of the tale, until the final, liberating outcome.

Born in Saint Etienne in 1973, Hafid Aggoune has written several well-received novels, including Les Avenirs (“The Futures”, Fénéon Prize and L’Armitière Prize). He lives and works in Paris.



BACKLISTLiterature

RUDIK jim

lennonby david foenkinos

by harold Cobertby Philippe grimbert

THE MIROIR Collection : a journey through the life of legends

andyby brigitte kernel


- in 6 countries - Spain, Korea, Italy,

Poland, Russia, Romania



Léonora MIANO : Frankfurt Book Fair 2015 guest of honnor

Winner of the 2013 Femina prize

shapes of the coming day inside the night

as dying starsscarlet dawns

+79,000 copies sold !+27,000 copies sold !

+8,000 copies sold ! +10,000 copies sold !

- in 5 countries - Brazil, China, Italy,

Portugal, Sweden

- in 5 countries - USA, Italy, Sweden,

Portugal, Netherlands

Portugal

BACKLISTLiterature

Winner of the 2006 «goncourt des lycéens»



BACKLISTLiterature

The Wolf and the Lion by denis lépéef e b r u a r y 2 0 1 5

In 1588, young Gabriel Lespéron is plunged into the violent intrigues agitating France. The country is torn between the wolves - King Henry III and his circle - and the lions - the Duke of Guise and the Catholic League - while the Protestant Henry of Navarre threatens to seize the crown. An exciting coming-of-age novel along with a gripping reflection on power.

Czech republic : Brana

previously translated works:L’Ordre du monde (Timée Editions 2007)Spain, Catalan, Netherlands, Germany, China, Korea, Romania, Russia, Greece & Turkey.

1661 (Timée Editions 2005)UK, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungaria, Russia & Greece.

La Conspiration Bosch (Timée Editions 2006)Spain & Italy.

I MARRIED A JERK – The Story of (Almost ) Every Woman by Agnès bouquetm ay 2 0 0 8

A fan of Lacan, but one who never misses an issue of tabloïds, Pépita is charming, socially savvy - in a Saint-Germain-des-Prés/Saint-Tropez kind of way - and crazy. Crazy about love and crazy about Roméo, a golden boy but not exactly a jet setter, who finds her attractive, but, well, he’s not really looking for… Every woman, at one time or another, has thought, «Who is this schmuck? I married a jerk!» And every man has answered this unspoken thought with, «She may think she married a jerk, but I married a certifiable hysteric!»

Pépita’s and Roméo’s hilariously unrealistic expectations will make you laugh ruefully as their daily life follows the script from hell.

KoreA : Munhakdongne

Men are Mistresses Like All the Others by guillaume chérelm ay 2 0 1 3

Women are more touching, more fragile. So they often attract all the sympathy in stories of adultery, where the lover comes across as a Don Juan, an unscrupulous adventurer, a home wrecker come to disturb domestic peace.

What is the suffering of love like for men? A novel that explores the torture of the lover of a married woman when what was a liaison ripens into a passion—and all from the male’s point of view. Readers, this book is a manifesto that pleads the cause of men who find themselves compelled to love a married woman!

124,000 copies sold !

MOVIE CURRENTLY IN SHOOTING



The BlowsSamuel Benchetrit

F o r t h e f i r s t t i m e e v e r , S a m u e l B e n c h e t r i t, e x - h u s b a n d o f m u r d e r e d F r e n c h m o v i e s ta r M a r i e T r i n t i g n a n t, a n d f at h e r o f h e r s o n J u l e s , ta l k s a b o u t h e r a n d t h e d r a m at i c e v e n t s

t h at c o s t M a r i e h e r l i f e .

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 5

«We walked home, holding hands. Even now, my son and I still hold hands. We give each other strength. Like those old Jews who hold onto each other’s arms when they go for a walk. Jean-Louis Trintignant and I hold hands when we go for a walk, too. Lovers hold hands so they won’t come apart. We hold hands so we won’t get sucked down. Gravity doesn’t have the same strength for everyone.

My son asks me where we’re going. I tell him we’re going home. He’s not used to having two homes yet. He calls my home, “your place.” He calls his mother’s home, “our place.” I can understand. Little kids need their mother more than they need their father. Little kids love their mother all the time. They love their father sometimes. An hour or two a day. When they come home from work. I tell my son that I have something important to tell him. He asks me what. I don’t want to talk about it in the street. I want to be home. My son insists. He asks me if it’s a surprise. I tell him that it’s something serious. He doesn’t understand. Nothing serious has ever happened to him before. But he stops insisting.

I’m afraid. Nothing is working right. Not my heart. Not my breathing. Not my steps. In a few minutes, I’m going to destroy my

son. A part of him. No one else can do it. Why not a stranger? Someone he’ll never have to see again. I didn’t do any harm to the mother of my son. But now, now, at the end of this street, I’m the one who’s going to kill him. My own son. I’m going to damage him with a few words. Me, his father. Batter his heart. Samuel Benchetrit

Samuel Benchetrit writes books and screenplays, and directs for stage and screen. His previous books include Récit d’un branleur (A Good-for-Nothing’s Story), Chroniques de l’asphalte (The Asphalt Chronicles three volumes so far), Le Cœur en dehors (His Heart on His Sleeve, 2009 Eugène Dabit Populist Novel Prize) and Chien (Dog).

»

real life stories



Love in AutistanJoseph SCHOVANEC

Joseph Schonavec , 33, a person with autism and a chemical-straitjacket survivor, has been a poster boy for autism and difference. For many years, he has been travelling from town to town in order to soften the harsh life of people who think they’re normal, as well as the rest of us. His previous books published by Plon are the best-seller Je suis à l’Est ! (“I Think Different!” 2012) and Éloge du voyage à l’usage des autistes et de ceux qui ne le sont pas assez (“In Praise of Travel for People who Are Autistic and Those who Aren’t Autistic Enough”, 2014), and by First Comprendre l’autisme pour les nuls (“Understanding Autism for Dummies”, 2015).

N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 2 2 4 p a g e s

H o w c a n a n a u t i s t i c p e r s o n e x p e r i e n c e l o v e ?

Sonia was one of those little girls who were headed for a cocoon. Her cocoon, or rather her office at one of the most prestigious colleges in America, became a world filled with numbers, graphs and complicated calculations. An ocean away, Emmanuel is standing on a soup line, patiently waiting for his dinner, with his sleeping bag slung over his back, in preparation for the freezing cold night that awaits him on the street. He too is thinking about the formulas he used to work on when he taught at Polytech. And especially about the conversations he used to have with Sonia. Her demonstrations were stunning. Like watching grand masters play chess. And the more he thinks about, the less easily he can fall asleep in his thousand-star hotel.

Guillaume, on the other hand, isn’t afflicted with those issues. Well, not any more, anyway. He was another spacy child, and as a teen, he wrote bilingual, Old Chinese-to-Chinese dictionaries. He sold his birthright for a nice house and a comfortable lifestyle. He maintains an appearance of normalcy, that is only partially forced. The woman he’ll meet won’t be autistic. But she’ll take him somewhere further than China.

Usually, love stories – that endless subject – are necessarily autobiographical. One way or another, they reflect the author’s past.

And they are all strangely similar. Exceptionally, in this book, the author talks about love like a person who has been blind from birth describing the colour red better than seeing person could. He acquires and weaves together dozens of authentic, surprising and disconcerting facts that trace the outlines of another world… all while inviting us to travel the roads of distant Autistan.


- in 6 countries - Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, China, Czech

Republic

Joseph Schonavec’s FORMER Best seller !

real life stories



I HAVE BEEN TO HELLFayza D. & Djénane Kareh Tager

T h e f i r s t p e r s o n a l a c c o u n t o f a y o u n g , 1 9 - y e a r -o l d S y r i a n , i n t h e h e a r t o f t h e i n f e r n o t h at i s

t h e A s s a d r e g i m e .

O c t o b e r 2 0 1 31 8 0 p a g e s

«I am 19 years old, and I feel as though I have lived a thousand lives. My current life will no doubt end in a few days. I will go to roam over the vast expanse of the Bekaa plane I can see beneath my window, Mohamed will find us a tent for shelter. I will join my family, who crowd together under a burning sun. I’ll get used to it. One always gets used to everything, as long as one is still alive. I am fighting to stay alive….»

Fayza was born in Zabadani, a small town about sixty kilometers from Damascus. As a child, she studied «the principles of Baas» at school and witnessed the atrocities the regime of the Assads committed against her people. She took to the street with the first demonstrations, demanding justice for Deraa and freedom for all. She saw her father, a minor civil servant guilty of nothing, return from prison broken by torture, transformed into a domestic tyrant

Fayza D. , 19, fled Syria and lives today in Lebanon.

In 2010, Djénane Kareh Tager ’s Sous mon niqab (Under my Niqab, Plon, 2010) a previous first-hand account, was published. It sold 27.000 copies in France.

- in 3 countries - Poland, Turkey,

Netherlands

who threatened her with a crime of honor. She listened as her fiancé told her of nightmarish visions in the same prisons. She fled when her city was razed by the Syrian army. Like two million Syrians, she was compelled to take to the road when her world collapsed.

Today, Fayza lives in Lebanon. One day, she says, she will be a doctor. That is, if she survives.

FROM ASSAD’S SYRIA TO THE CAMPS OF LEBANON

real life stories



the first woman filmmaker in history“A l i c e G u y w a s a n e x c e p t i o n a l d i r e c t o r , w i t h a r a r e

s e n s i b i l i t y, w i t h a n i n c r e d i b l e p o e t i c a l i n s t i n c t a n d a f o r m i d a b l e i n s t i n c t t o c h o o s e f i l m s e t s . S h e

w r o t e , d i r e c t e d a n d p r o d u c e d m o r e t h a n a t h o u s a n d f i l m s . A n d y e t, s h e w a s f o r g o t t e n b y t h e i n d u s t r y

s h e c o n t r i b u t e d t o c r e at e . ”M a r t i n S c o r c e s e

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Alice Guy was born in 1873, an illegitimate child of mixed race. She spent her childhood between Chile, Switzerland and France, where she was placed in a convent school. In Paris, she was hired as an assistant by Léon Gaumont. Having quickly made herself indispensable, she was named, at age 22, the head of production of Gaumont studios, a unique status in the nascent history of the motion picture industry.

In 1907, after making over a hundred films, Alice left France for the United States with her husband, Herbert Blaché. Four years later, the mother of two children, she was the richest director and producer in the country! The American press, fascinated by this self-made woman, treated her like a star.

But behind the brilliant success story, Alice Guy’s personal life was worthy of a melodrama. Herbert, envious of his wife’s achievements, openly cheated on her and managed her business affairs against her wishes, forcing her to join the trusts when she wanted to devote

A journalist and radio and television host, Emmanuelle gaume heads the production company “68 Productions”. She has written a novel, Déshabille-toi (Take off your clothes) (Plon, 2006).

Emmanuelle Gaume is planning on producing a movie about Alice Guy’s life.

herself to independent production, and then to move to Hollywood. In 1920, after a heated argument, Alice tried to shoot Herbert and to turn the gun on herself.

Her husband and the Hollywood machine finally defeated her: in 1922, she took the boat back to France, alone with her two children. She died at the age of 94, in France, far from America and from the cinema that owed her so much.

emmanuelle gaumereal life stories



Hugo Pratt: Through the LabyrinthJean-Claude GUILBERT

r e v i s e d a n d e x p a n d e d e d i t i o n i n t i m e f o r t h e 2 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y o f P r at t ’ s d e at h a n d t h e r e l e a s e o f a

p r e v i o u s ly u n p u b l i s h e d C o r t o M a lt e s e a l b u m .

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 5 1 2 p a g e s

Like his most emblematic character, Corto Maltese, Hugo Pratt is a mystery. His world – where inspiration from great books intertwines with the true fates of magnificent losers, drawn into improbable adventures on the margins of major historical events – is so dense and so codified that his many fans spend countless hours trying to understand what it all means.

Jean-Claude Guilbert, a close friend of the great Hugo, invites us on a voyage that is much more than a simple biography. Assertively original, illustrated with a great many previously unpublished documents, in many ways, this book is THE reference about one of the true masters of the world of comic books.

jean-claude guilbert has been the editor-in-chief of Planète, of Le Figaro Magazine, and of LCI, as well as a commentator on Europe 1 radio.

Revised and expanded edition

Jean-Claude Guilbert pays tribute to his friend and “master” in an illuminating biography- Le Figaro Littéraire-

Guilbert guides us masterfully through the poetic world and the personal secrets of one of the most brilliant author-illustrators in the history of European comic books.

- Lire-

»«

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+10,000 copies sold ! -iTALY --Spain -

real life stories



introduced by isabelle anthonioz-gaggini

DialoguesGeneviève de gaulle - anthonioz & germaine tillion

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u n p u b l i s h e d c o n v e r s at i o n s b e t w e e n t w o e x c e p t i o n a l w o m e n . B o t h d e p o r t e d f o r h av i n g j o i n e d t h e F r e n c h

R e s i s ta n c e , a n d , f o r t h e r e s t o f t h e i r l i v e s , d e f e n d i n g t h e d u t y o f m e m o r y :

A n e x c l u s i v e d o c u m e n t !

« My mother, Geneviève de Gaulle, was part of the ‘convoy of 27,000’ with the mother of Germaine Tillion; they became friends during their transport to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in February 1944. There they joined Germaine, imprisoned several months earlier. The two younger women survived; Mrs Tillion was gassed. Geneviève and Germaine were never apart from then on, having become more than friends, more than sisters.

Since childhood, we witnessed, my brothers and I, their endless and passionate conversations, part of their tireless work on consciousness and memory and their joint commitment to defend what is true and right and to fight the intolerable. »

This book is a fragment of their dialogues. Laughter alternates with painful silences. The stories - precise, detailed, terrible - reveal a lucid but also fraternal vision of humanity. They are speaking to Isabelle, daughter of Geneviève, in an atmosphere of trust and affection. Filmmaker Jacques Kébadian recorded these interviews in 2000, at Germaine Tillion’s home in the Paris suburb of Saint-Mandé. Isabelle has transcribed the words and adds her own memories. Anise Postel-Vinay, close friend of Geneviève and Germaine who was also deported to Ravensbrück for her Resistance activities, provides the preface.

isabelle anthonioz-gaggini , the daughter of Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz, worked with filmmaker Jacques Kébadian on the documentary “Germaine Tillion and Geneviève de Gaulle Anthonioz”.

8,000 copies ALREADY

sold !

real life stories



FROM MY LAND TO THE EARTH by Sebastião Salgado

In this book, Sebastião Salgado talks for the first time about his militant commitment and his convictions as a photographer, not with images, but with words. Reliving the history of his photo-reportages in over a hundred countries and his personal history, we follow him from Brazil to Paris where he created the Amazonas Images agency with his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado. He tells of their work on long-term reportages that covered years, becoming the subject of exhibitions, books, and publications in the international press, and of his love for photography.

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- in 12 countries - USA, UK, Brazil,

China, Korea, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Japan,

Russia,Taiwan,Turkey

Genesis Exhibition : list of venues

International Center of Photography, New York, USA, September 2014 - January 2015;Sejong Art Center, Seoul, Korea, October 2014 - February 2015;CaixaForum, Barcelona, Spain, October 2014 - February 2015;

Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, November 2014 - February 2015;CaixaForum, Palma, Spain, February - May 2015;

Shanghai, China, 2015 : venue & dates in discussion;A Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal, April - August 2015;

Amerika Haus, Berlin, Germany, April - August 2015;Forti di Bard, Aosta, Italy, May - September 2015;

CaixaForum, Zaragosa, Spain, June - October 2015;Kunst Foyer, Munich, Germany, October - January 2015;

Burgos, Spain, November 2015 - January 2016;CaixaForum, Lleida, Spain, February - May 2016;

CaixaForum, Tarragona, Spain, May - August 14, 2016CaixaForum, Girona, Spain, September 2016 - January 10, 2017.

backlistreal life stories



BACKLISTMARGUERITE DURAS : crossing a century

Geneviève de Gaulle - anthonioz

CARTIER-BRESSON, THE EYE OF THE CENTURY

heinrich himmler

by alain vircondelet

by caroline glorion

by pierre assouline

by michael Wildt & Katrin Himmler

To what can one attribute the continuing fascination with the life and work of Marguerite Duras? In reconstructing this existence, the sole product of the work, Alain Vircondelet gives the reader the insight to comprehend the painful dimension and the absolute necessity to create of a great writer, as he examines the secret of her writing with the intensity it compels.

Henri Cartier-Bresson shared lengthy conversations with Pierre Assouline. He told him of his youthful fascination with surrealism, his unassuaged passion for drawing, of the war and its camps, of friends and of women who crossed his path. He even gave the author access to his archives. The biographer’s talent accomplishes the rest. Like a perfect photo, we witness the rare meeting of two sensibilities.

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m ay 2 0 1 4

o c t o b e r 2 0 1 3


Niece of General de Gaulle, she joined the Resistance at the age of 18. Deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, she fought tirelessly against annihilation. This same “rejection of the intolerable” led her to join the organization ATD Quart Monde in 1958 to combat extreme poverty.She was recently interred in the Panthéon, being one of the first women to buried there.

An intimate portrait of Heinrich Himmler, dreaded chief of the SS, as seen through his unpublished correspondence with his wife Marga, between 1927 and 1945. This original correspondence of Himmler, published here for the first time, confirms his role as the great organizer of the Final Solution and a man who was much closer to Hitler than many historians previously judged him to be.



China -Ruyi Xinxin

- in 9 countries - Brazil, China, Korea, Ger-

many, Spain, UK, Italy, Turkey, Taiwan

- in 13 countries - USA, Brazil, Germany, China, Spain, Finland,

Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Poland,

Czech Republic.

n o v e m b e r 1 9 9 9

real life stories



The Erasmus Generation: Sandro Gozi

They’re already running things

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Sandro Gozi’s career has always been linked to Europe, from the halls of the Sorbonne, where he was a student, to a pivotal role in Italy’s presidency of the Union European while he was Italy’s State Secretary of European Affairs. And it was Erasmus, the European Union’s student-exchange programme begun in 1987, which offered Gozi the opportunity to go to the Sorbonne.

Known as one of the top experts in the workings of the Union, Gozi leads us through the arcana of European power by describing the six months he spent as the head of the 28, from July to December 2014, while Mateo Renzi’s Italy was presiding the European Union.

More than just a political chronicle, Génération Erasmus focuses on the radical change washing over the current European political scene: a new generation of leaders who have studied abroad alongside students from other European nations, who know each other better and have a more global vision of Europe, has arrived in the halls of European power.

Through his own personal experience, Sandro Gozi not only warns us about the divisions that threaten us; he also affords us a glimpse of Europe’s future.

« a n e w g e n e r at i o n o f l e a d e r s , f o r m e r E r a s m u s s t u d e n t s , a r e o f f e r i n g n e w p e r s p e c t i v e s f o r t h e

f u t u r e o f t h e E u r o p e a n U n i o n »s a n d r o g o z i

Member of Italy’s Democratic Party, Sandro Gozi , 47, is State Secretary of European Affairs in Italy’s Cabinet of Ministers. After obtaining a doctorate in law, he went on to get post-graduate degrees in international relations from Paris’s School of Political Science and from the Free University of Brussels, as well as studying macro-economics at the London School of Economics.

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The German government’s policies make that country responsible for the current crumbling of the European ideal. This book reveals the roots of that responsibility – which lie both in the present Merkel government, and in the country’s deeper past. It underscores the contrast between current German leaders’ insulting arrogance and French commentators’ pure panic at the idea of saying anything that might upset them.

This polemical tract exposes the imposture that Germany is an economic role model that the rest of Europe should emulate. It shows that Germany’s supposedly model economy is nothing of the sort, and that its principal victims are the some 12 million people living under the poverty line there. It shows how the German economy is based on exploiting the labour force. The cheap one from the former Eastern bloc nations, which have been virtually annexed, in economic terms, as well as German women, who have few choices other than full-time home making or low-paid service jobs.

And it shows that, unlike their image as a serious, disciplined trade

« T h e “ G e r m a n p o i s o n ” i s t h e o n e t h at t h e M e r k e l g o v e r n m e n t ’ s p o l i c i e s a r e i n j e c t i n g i n t o i t s n e i g h b o u r s ’

e c o n o m i e s . A n a s p h y x i at i n g p o i s o n t h at c o n d e m n s i t s v i c t i m s t o p o v e r t y a n d c h a o s , b o t h s o c i a l a n d p o l i t i c a l . »

J e a n - L u c M é l e n c h o n

partner, historically, German governments have often not paid their debts, while expecting their neighbours to foot the bill for their actions, which was the case at the time of German reunification, in 1990.

The German Poison calls for a frank confrontation of opinions with today’s Germany. It calls for recognition that an ageing population like Germany’s will necessarily have diverging interests and projects from a country undergoing a demographic boom, like France, which will soon have the largest population in Europe. The goal must be to stop the march towards chaos. It encourages optimism, predicting France’s unweildy neighbour’s inevitable decline. And it warns the French against that morbid fascination for so-called German efficiency that led to the moral collapse of the pre-war generation among the French elite.


Jean-Luc mélenchon is a well-known politician. Head of France’s Left Party, he is a European deputy.

Spain : Ediciones de Intervencion (with an exclusive introduction from Pablo Iglesias (Podemos).

Bismarck herring : the german poisonjean-Luc Mélenchon



about islamRashid Al ghannushi & Olivier RAVANELLO

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Rashid al-Ghannushi, whose supporters call the Sheikh as a sign of respect for an elder who speaks words of wisdom, has been a political leader of the Islamist movement in Tunisia for 50 years. But his aura spreads far beyond his country’s borders. Throughout the Arab world people listen when he speaks. And his words have historical impact.

Olivier Ravanello has interviewed him extensively, hours of dialogues without taboos or restrictions, about Islam and its relations with Europe, democracy, secularism, and other sensitive topics.

Is Islam compatible with democracy? With secularism? Freedom? Respect for women? Is Islam itself a threat? How can we coexist with Muslims who want to live their religion fully and claim the right to do so? Is it true, for them, that the Muslim community’s rules are above the law? Is Europe in danger? What exactly is “moderate” Islam, and do moderate Islamists really exist?

The simplest way to form an opinion is to start by questioning these “moderate Islamists”. That’s what this ground-breaking book sets out to do.

A ground breaking, game-changing book !

F o r t h e f i r s t t i m e , R a s h i d a l- G h a n n u s h i , T H E l e a d i n g t h i n k e r o f p o l i t i c a l I s l a m , a n s w e r s a l l t h e q u e s t i o n s

w e h av e t o d ay a b o u t I s l a m .

A foreign policy commentator for the French TV channel I-Télé, olivier ravanello has been a war correspondent for over a decade in the Middle East: Iraq, Syria, the Gaza Strip, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia. He has witnessed the transformation of these Islamist groups from clandestine underground movements to ruling parties.

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The Bible and the CoranSerge LAFITTE

A c l e a r a n d r e a d e r - f r i e n d ly b o o k t h at g o e s b a c k t o t h e r o o t s o f t h e t h r e e m o n o t h e i s t i c r e l i g i o n s b y

e x p l o r i n g t h e i r f o u n d i n g t e x t s .

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where do the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Coran come from? What do these three books, which are sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims contain? Who wrote them? For what purpose? How did they reach us? Who were Moses, Jesus and Mahomed? What role do these “Holy Books” play in Judaism, Christianity and Islam? What do they have in common? What are their differences?

These are the questions – which interest both believers and sceptics – that Serge Lafitte, a renowned specialist in monotheistic religions, answers by presenting the founding texts and their histories.

A journalist specialised in the field of religion, Serge Lafitte , a frequent contributor to Le Monde des religions, is the author of many books, including Mahomet et l’islam des origines (Plon, 2006) and Chiites et sunnites (Plon, 2007; new edition Presses de la Renaissance, January 2016).

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AMAZING ANDdidier van cauwelaert

A f t e r t h e s u c c e s s o f t h e f i r s t v o l u m e , D i d i e r va n C a u w e l a e r t p r e s e n t s a n e w c o l l e c t i o n o f e v e n m o r e

a m a z i n g p h e n o m e n a . R e a l i t i e s t h at a p p e a r i m p o s s i b l e at f i r s t, a n d y e t c a n b e e x p l a i n e d .

«This new book is primarily the product of the reactions, revelations and extraordinary events triggered by Volume 1 among dozens of readers, eyewitnesses of phenomena and scientists. I couldn’t keep to myself the amazing experiences they told me about – and sometimes invited me to share.» – D.V.C.

We discover incredible cases, both from the history of science and from very recent events, supported by solid evidence. These include unexplained distant healings; ‘impossible’ achievements by plants, animals and humans; audiovisual communications from beyond (or from our own psychic faculties); apparent contact with extraterrestrials, analyzed scientifically. And we also learn about elaborate deceptions staged by military groups, gurus, mediums and other charlatans.

From A to Z, each example shakes up our worldview, for the better and (sometimes) for the worse.j u n e 2 0 1 5

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Didier van cauwelaert accumulates literary prizes along with public acclaim. He won the “Prix Del Duca” for his first novel in 1982 and the “Prix Goncourt” and “Prix Nimier” for Un aller simple (One-way ticket) in 1994. He also received the “Prix Science de la Vulgarisation Scientifique” for his book L’apparition (The apparition) in 2002. He recently published Le principe de Pauline (Pauline’s principle) (Albin Michel, 2014).

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UNEXPLAINED STORIESD i d i e r va n C a u w e l a e r t o f f e r s a p a n o r a m a o f t h e m o s t a m a z i n g p h e n o m e n a , f a c t s t h at s e e m at f i r s t g l a n c e

l o g i c a l ly i m p o s s i b l e a n d y e t h av e a n e x p l a n at i o n , b a c k e d u p b y s c i e n t i f i c p r o o f.

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A chick that attracts a robot solely using the power of thought. A host that levitates during a televised Mass. A tree that moves, entirely on its own power. A machine capable of conversing with insects. A military man who creates a detailed picture of a secretly-constructed enemy submarine that is ten thousand kilometres away. A member of the Resistance who escapes talking under Nazi torture by practicing bilocation.

A priori, all these things seem impossible, and yet all of them, and others the author presents in this unusual dictionary, have been observed, described, and authenticated by trustworthy individuals, scientific researchers equipped with instruments to measure them. Didier van Cauwelaert pushes back the limits of the unimaginable from A to Z.

From the psychic powers of the bee to the rational fabrication of zombies, from A as in Abandon (victory by) to Z as in Zola (the double miracle inflicted upon Emile), with discernment and curiosity, he joyously offers the reader the opportunity to vastly

expand the realm of things possible. And his exploration of these amazing phenomena changes our perception of ourselves and all that surrounds us, encourages our re-enchantment with the world, while exploring its behind-the-scenes aspects where, just behind the curtain, crafty schemes, disinformation, mental manipulation, selective perception, conspiracies of silence, and deliberate bluffing reign supreme.

didier van cauwelaert

more than 50,000 copies sold !

romania : Baroque Books and ArtsItaly : Clichy Edizioni

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a j o u r n e y t h r o u g h t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e G a r n i e r P a l a c e – f r o m t h e g r e at p e r f o r m a n c e s t o t h e s t u f f o f

b a c k s ta g e g o s s i p : a n e n t e r ta i n i n g y e t s e r i o u s r e a d i n g , b r i m m i n g w i t h i n f o r m at i o n a n d a n e c d o t e s .

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From A for Audience to Z for Zauberflöte, via L for Lake, N for Nureyev and P for Phantom of the Opera, we learn everything we always wanted to know, and more, about this pagan temple dedicated to the cult of the most ecumenical of religions: artistic creation, represented here by two of its most stunning interpretations: opera and ballet.

A quarter of a century apart, each of the authors has been managing director of the Paris Opera. That experience has given them unparalleled knowledge, vision and understanding of a mysterious and complex institution, and particularly of a fascinating building, the world-renowned Garnier Palace, which has no secrets for either one of them.

Their points of view feed into and complement each other, providing a wonderfully accurate portrait of an admirable, moving, mischievous and sometimes deplorable reality that can leave no one indifferent.

The authors lead us to the heart of this historical monument, a place filled with life and passion, and tell us all about the Garnier Palace: its architecture, history and secrets; the women and men who work there every day and those who drop in for a show, the passion that animates it and the politics that have always interfered with its operations…

Jean-philippe Saint-Geours (1983 to 1989) and Christophe tardieu (2010 to 2014) have each been managing director of the Paris Opera. They wrote this book in collaboration with Michel Sarazin, author of Opéra de Paris, les mystères de la cathédrale de l’éphémère.

Paris’s Grand Opera HouseBackstage Secrets from the Garnier Palace

Jean-Philippe SAINT-GEOURS & Christophe TARDIEU



Fifty years after Pierre Bourdieu’s Les Héritiers : les étudiants et la culture, published in 1964, François-Xavier Bellamy acknowledges the following state of affairs: we still wish to educate, but we no longer wish to pass on.

This crisis of culture is not the result of a problem of means, financing, or management.

A unique phenomenon has occurred in Western society, a break never before experienced, in which one generation refuses to transmit to the following all it has to offer, the whole of its knowledge, its reference points, the human experience that constitutes its heritage. In this work, the author seeks the means to reconstruct this dialogue of generations and traces the path that will avoid the destitution of a generation that cries out its will to live.

François-Xavier Bellamy describes the rupture between generations, the one refusing to transmit its knowledge and its heritage to the other, thus compromising the foundations and the future of our society. a u g u s t 2 0 1 4

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François-xavier Bellamy holds an agrégation in philosophy and is a frequent commentator in the French press with a regular column in Le Figaro.

why are our children so uneducated?


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J ihadism – Getting to know it to better fight it by David BENICHOU, Farhad KHOSROKHAVAR & Philippe MIGAUX

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Radical Islam made itself publicly visible more than thirty years ago during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and again on 11 September 2001 with the attack against the United States. The phenomenon has since become global: with the exception of Latin America, no continent is now spared.

Who are its actors, how do they define themselves, what is their ideological configuration, how do they manage to attract recruits not only in the Muslim world, but also in the West, and not only among Muslim minorities but also within a whole new generation of converts?

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A g e o p o l i t i c a l , l e g a l a n d s o c i o l o g i c a l a s s e s s m e n t o f j i h a d b y t h r e e l e a d i n g e x p e r t s o n I s l a m i c t e r r o r i s m .

Why are women attracted to this vision, which marginalizes them? How, in a world where secularization seemed irreversible, could this extremist version of Islam create openings and offer a totalitarian form of religious oneness? What are the options available to the West and the Muslim world to counteract this repressive form of action and thought that reinvents totalitarianism in the name of religion? How to act to weaken the appeal of jihadism that presents itself as an alternative to extremist left and right views?

Examining jihadism from its geopolitical, legal and sociological angles, three leading experts on Islamic terrorism provide answers to all these questions and open avenues for further thought on the future of this terrifying movement advocating endless holy war.

A magistrate in the anti-terrorist division of the Paris regional court, David BENICHOU is involved in training judges, investigators and lawyers in France and abroad. Farhad KHOSROKHAVAR is a director of studies in the social sciences and a sociologist. He has pu-blished numerous books including La Radicalisation. Avoir vingt ans au pays des ayatollahs (Radica-lization. Being twenty years old in the land of the ayatollahs) with Amir Nikpey and L’Islam dans les prisons (Islam in prisons).

Doctor of Ethnology and researcher on asymmetric conflicts, Philippe MIGAUX has been a lecturer at Sciences-Po in Paris on International Security Threats. He is the author of Al-Qaïda : sommes-nous menacés ? (Al-Qaeda, Are We Threatened?), Le Terrorisme au nom du jihad (Terrorism in the Name of Jihad) and Histoire du terrorisme, de l’Antiquité à Al‐Qaïda (History of Terrorism, from Antiquity to Al Qaeda).

A m u s t- h av e b o o k .



THE OVERFED PLANET by Pierre Weil

Why we are all ultimately condemned to obesity, unless we rapidly change our habits. An urgently timely work that debunks the lies of the food industry, pharmaceutical firms, and health policies undertaken in the name of money and profit.

Our food budget has been decreasing, and so has the time devoted to meal preparation, but the instance of nutrition-related diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease is on the upswing. Since the 1950s, a “new world alimentary order” has come into being, and agriculture and the food-processing industry have concentrated on products

Korea : Kungree Press

Germany : Systemed GmbH

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION by luc ferry

An actual philosophy hides behind the word «innovation”, a philosophy which has taken hold among our political leaders. “What will save us is not declining growth, it is innovation. Even if it destabilizes the world, even if it can be fantastic and, at the same time, destructive. Gutenberg destroyed the livelihood of copyists, but then he made possible the creation of millions of jobs in professions linked to printing.”

In line with current trends Luc Ferry revisits the thought of Austrian economist Schumpeter (1883-1950). This prophet of innovation, who thought of the concept of “creative destruction» - Ferry prefers to refer to “destructive

Korea: Munhakdongnebrazil : Editorial Objectiva+22,000 copies sold !

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innovation”, a more optimistic term - remains topical. Innovation as a driving force behind growth that renders obsolete all that is old.

Innovation is at once vital and a source of anxiety; in a century of deconstruction (artistic, social, economic), we must resolve this dilemma.

that are less expensive and more practical. Though we eat less and less, excess weight and obesity statistics have exploded. While prevention policy is sluggish in the making, producers, prescribers, and consumers are woefully lacking innutritional education.

An intelligent guide to food purchasing which tells us how to read a label and how to judge which products are bad for us, this work has earned the praise of David Servan-Schreiber and other major names in the field.



Human relations are not lawless. When two people share a bond, certain behaviors and commitments are expected of them, and if they display certain forms of indifference or disdain we are shocked.

In a friendship, what are these implicit norms of behavior that cause certain actions or words to be considered objectionable? How do we become friends? What is it that we are pledging to do? Can we stay friends if the other person changes?

When we engage in a romantic relationship, is adultery a form of betrayal? Can we continue to be in love with someone we cheat on? Can we love two people at the same time? Are we in love with an individual person or a set of qualities? Can we continue to love when the person has lost everything that made us love them? The philosopher Monique Canto-Sperber answers all these questions, deciphering the expectations that nourish the range of human bonds as soon as they begin to be projected into the future, laden with hopes and with representations of the self and the other.

A book that takes up themes dear to Stendhal in his On Love and to Roland Barthes in A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments ‒ ageless questions.

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A r e t h e r e l a w s r u l i n g r e l at i o n s h i p s ? M o n i q u e C a n t o - S p e r b e r , p h i l o s o p h e r , p r o v i d e s a n s w e r s

t o o u r m o s t v i ta l q u e s t i o n s o n t h e s e e t e r n a l i s s u e s .

Philosopher Monique canto-sperber , 60, is the former director of the Ecole normale supérieur-rue d’Ulm and the CNRS-EHESS’s Centre Raymond Aron for political research, as well as the producer of a radio show on ethics for France Culture. Head of a collection for the publisher Presses Universitaires de France, she is the author of several books on ancient philosophy and moral and political thought, including, published by Plon, Les Règles de la liberté, Le Bien, la Guerre et la Terreur : pour une morale internationale, and Naissance et libertés : la procréation, quelles limites?

godless and lawlessmonique canto-sperber

philosophy



what unites us ?roger pol-droit

i n a w o r l d m o r e a n d m o r e d i v i d e d , w h at u n i t e s u s s t i l l a s h u m a n b e i n g s ?

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The world is more and more divided. The oppositions between rich and poor, urban and rural, nationals and migrants, young and old are intensifying. The landscape of our time seems more and more patchy, fragmented and conflictual. This is the front of the stage.

In reality, we still have everything that unites human beings. But this background seems to be forgotten, ignored, misunderstood. The book’s purpose is to light it up again - in its most simple aspects as well as in its complexity.

To get a clear view of this unity within diversity, the best guiding principle is to question what we mean when we say “we”. Is this the “we” of a family? Of one language? Of a nation? Or of a civilization? Are we referring more generally to all humans? Even more broadly, to all living things? The entire planet? Depending on which “we” is meant, what unites us is not defined or conceptualized in the same way.

This essay does not intend to deliver a comforting message, or to make us believe that all we need is a bit of goodwill, and we can end conflict and settle our disputes. Rather, it seeks to show the double face of today’s world and the human condition: always simultaneously linked and divided, caught between the forces that bring together and those that disperse - Eros and Thanatos.

Roger pol-droit is a philosopher, writer and journalist. He is a columnist for Le Monde, Le Point, Les Echos and Clés. An alumnus of the École normale supérieure, he has been a researcher at the CNRS, seminar director at Sciences-Po, and a member of the Comité National Consultatif d’Ethique pour les Sciences de la vie (National Consultative Committee for Life Sciences.) He is the author of some thirty books, several of which have been translated into multiple languages; they include, published by Plon, Les héros de la sagesse (Heroes of wisdom) (2009) and Petites expériences de philosophie entre amis (Small philosophy experiments with friends) (2012).

philosophy



In modern society, where individualism seems to have reached an extreme, many people are trying to rebuild social ties. They are rediscovering the value of friendship, which has long been seen as lukewarm compared to love. A few years ago, a SOFRES poll showed that 54% of people under 25 said that friendship was more important to them than love.

Everyone can conjure up an image of what a friend is. Yet elucidating the emotion of friendship is not an easy thing to do; the bonds of friendship are both obvious and enigmatic. As Montaigne’s famous line about La Boétie put it, “Because he was he and I was I.” As though friendship had no reason. Yet that does not mean it has no cause or is unknowable: the idea is to identify the emotions that compose it.

This book is an attempt to define the nature of friendship – which is wrongly taken for granted – and its concrete manifestations in

everyday life, and then to extricate its ethical impact.

So it will explore the process of building friendship, from the birth of the emotion to its fulfilment in one’s existence. The alchemy of friendship illuminates individuals’ relations and their attitude towards otherness from within. In so doing, the book allows us to revisit such debased notions as generosity – the virtue that pushes us outside ourselves and frees us from our egocentricity; respect and faithfulness.

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F r o m l i f e l o n g f r i e n d s h i p s t o “ f r i e n d i n g ” s o m e o n e o n a s o c i a l n e t w o r k , v i a g i v i n g s o m e o n e a h a n d ,

t h e w o r d “ f r i e n d s h i p ” c a n r e f e r t o d i f f e r e n t k i n d s o f a f f i n i t i e s . M i c h e l E r m a n d e f i n e s t h e n at u r e

o f f r i e n d s h i p – w h i c h i s o f t e n w r o n g ly ta k e n f o r g r a n t e d .

Writer, philosopher and professor at the University of Bourgogne, Michel Erman ’s specialty is Marcel Proust, about whom he was written several books.

FriendshipMichel ERMAN

philosophy



SnobberyAdèle VAN REETH & Raphaël ENTHOVEN

S n o b b e r y d o e s n o t d e s i g n at e a t y p e o f p e r s o n , b u t a w ay o f b e h av i n g t o w a r d s o t h e r s .

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Why do we smile when Boris Vian sings “J’suis snob” (I’m a snob) as he eats his Camembert with a little spoon, whereas if we met such a man at a party, we would sneer at him contemptuously? Perhaps it’s because we’re just as snobbish as he is?

Snobbery does not designate a type of person, but a way of behaving towards others that starts with the assumption that our tastes are superior to theirs. Thus, no one is more snobbish than someone who despises snobs.

It has nothing to do with wealth or education: if snobbery resides in wanting to distinguish ourselves from others, in the act of showing off our singularity to escape the masses, then nothing is more natural and necessary for human survival in a democratic society. Snobbery is not a cosmetic artifice, nor an incurable disease. And only philosophy can talk about snobbery objectively, with neither praise nor condemnation.

A philosopher who specializes in the ordinary and in films, Adèle van reeth produces and hosts “Nouveaux chemins de la connaissance” (New paths of knowledge), the daily philosophy program broadcast by France Culture radio.

Raphaël Enthoven is a professor of philosophy. He produces the show “Le gai savoir” (The joy of learning) on France Culture radio, and hosts “Philosophie” (Philosophy) on Arte television. He has written several books including L’Endroit du décor (In front of the stage), Le philosophe de service et autres textes (Philosopher on duty and other writings) and Matière première (Raw material) for Gallimard, and Un jeu d’enfant (Child’s play) for Fayard. He received the 2013 Prix Femina for his Dictionnaire amoureux de Marcel Proust (A lover’s dictionary of Marcel Proust), co-written with his father Jean-Paul Enthoven.

©DR

©DR

philosophy



Pleasure

Wickedness

OBSTINACYby Adèle van Reeth &

Myriam Revault d’Allonnes

by Adèle van Reeth & Michaël Foessel

by Adèle van Reeth & jean-luc Nancy

A philosophical exploration of pleasure, the meaning of which evolved considerably before it came to infer sexuality.

Philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy clarifies the term “pleasure” that contemporary imaginations often associate with an experience that is first and foremost sexual. And yet pleasure is a word that, even etymologically, goes far beyond the domain of sexuality.

Why are we wicked, nasty, spiteful? Is wickedness a weakness of character, or is it a moral intention? Does one do wrong on purpose? In this examination of wickedness today, the author attempts to understand the human tragedies of history, but also to untangle the mechanisms that lead to the perpetuation of evil in our society.

Contrary to the courage, which is often only a bright flash that immediately fades, obstinacy traces a steadfast and lasting line.Combining determination and a will against all odds, obstinacy permits one to stay the course when all around him founders and to remain steady in times of crisis.

Spain : Pasos PerdidosUSA : Fordham University PressUK : Bloomsbury AUSTRIA : Passagen Verlag

philosophy

Backlist

jean-luc Nancy is one of the greatest French post-modernist philosophers, responsible for the return to a critique of the great German philosophical tradition. He is the author of several works published by Seuil, Flammarion, and others.

Michaël Foessel is a lecturer in philosophy at the Université de Bourgogne and at the Institut Catholique de Paris and has just been named to the chair of philosophy at the Ecole Polytechnique. A specialist in German philosophy and in political philosophy, his works include L’Anthologie Paul Ricœur (Points Seuil, 2007), La privation de l’intime (Seuil, 2008), État de vigilance (Le bord de l’eau, 2010), and Après la fin du monde (Seuil, 2012).

A specialist of moral and political philosophy, Myriam Revault d’Allonnes is a professor at EHESS and an associate researcher at Sciences Po. Among her works are La crise sans fin, essai sur l’expérience moderne du temps (Seuil, 2012), Pourquoi nous n’aimons pas la démocratie ? (Seuil, 2010) and L’Homme compassionnel (Seuil, 2008).

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Backlist

The new clash of generations

THE KEYS TO THE FUTURE

by serge july

by Jean STAUNE

When the divide between generations has never seemed so deep and wide, the authors invite the reader to take part in a new social experiment. A unique exploration of key issues - the body, the couple, the family, time, images - involving two voices, two perspectives and two eras.

the body, images, time, the couple, the family, art, science, our planet Earth, spirituality….The authors consider a wide spectrum of significant issues to define what separates Generation Y, also known as the Millennials, from its predecessors

the authors - both clinical psychologists - belonging by age to two very different generations, compare viewpoints on their era and combine their theoretical but also emotional knowledge to describe intergenerational conflicts and analyze its components - social, cultural and particularly psychological.

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Incredible changes – economic, scientific, religious – are shaking up our world. This essay provides the keys to understand them and take advantage of the opportunities they will bring.

With a concern for synthesis and simplicity, Jean Staune reveals the often-overlooked links between a series of revolutions that are changing the way we live, work and think as well as affecting our environment.

the result of fifteen years of research and discussion with hundreds of leading experts in the fields of economics, politics, science, business and religion, this book is essential for understanding the world of today and preparing for the future.

reinventing together society, economy and science

philosophy



A Paris Lover’s DictionaryNicolas D’ESTIENNE D’ORVES

N e i t h e r a t o u r g u i d e n o r a h i s t o r y o f P a r i s , n o r a l i s t o f r e c o m m e n d e d a d d r e s s e s , t h i s b o o k

o f f e r s t h e a u t h o r ’ s h i g h ly p e r s o n a l s e l e c t i o n o f P a r i s i a n g e m s . T h e h i s t o r y o f t h e F r e n c h c a p i ta l i s i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h m o r e p r i vat e a n e c d o t e s a n d

m e m o r i e s .

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«From Accordion to Zucca, we’ll delve into the catacombs and distinguish a café from a brasserie or a cabaret; we’ll accompany Truffaut to the Gaumont Palace cinema; we’ll walk in the footsteps of writers like Hardellet and Marcel Aymé; we’ll ferret out the traces of the countryside poking through the tarmc; we’ll tour churches and fine dining establishments; we’ll stroll through the Palais Royal and along the abandoned train tracks of the “Petite Ceinture” ring railway; we’ll contemplate the Apocalypse and historic decapitations; we’ll share our indignation at the level of vandalism and our thrill at the number of hidden wonders; we’ll explore the vestiges of successive fortifications and the bed of the Bièvre River; we’ll go to the cinema and the zoo occasionally and to the opera often; we’ll avoid the obvious; we’ll take the metro and the bus, but wouldn’t be caught dead on a scooter; we’ll seek shelter in covered passages; we’ll discover stunning panoramas; we’ll splash in the pool; we’ll learn about awful things that almost happened; and of course, we’ll read. A lot! My Paris isn’t the same as yours. It’s mine, with all its pettiness and its grandeur, its beauty and its flaws, its bad tastes and its whims, its amateurism and its obsessions.» Nicolas d’estienne d’orves

Born in 1974, Nicolas d’estienne d’orves is a writer and a journalist. The opera critic for Le Figaro and Classica, he also decrypts Paris every week in Le Figaroscope. Since 2001, he has written almost two dozen books, including Othon (2002 Roger Nimier Prize), Les Orphelins du Mal (“The Orphans of Evil”), Les Fidélités successives (2012 Cazes Prize) and more.

lover’s dictionnaries



A theater Lover’s DictionaryT h e c u r ta i n r i s e s …

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The theatre is a many-splendored place that provides escape and fantasy, as well as one thoughtful reflection and exploration of ideas.

A whole wide world of which, alas, we see only the tip of the iceberg – the actors on stage in front of us. When the curtain closes, we leave the theatre and return to real, workaday life. Yet the theatre is also a society with its trades and traditions, its superstitions and savoir-faire, which all contribute to its history and its legends.

Christophe Barbier, an experienced amateur actor and head of a company, has decided to take us backstage on an impassioned voyage devoted to art and the world of Shakespeare, Molière and more. He invites us to join his company and to go on tour, in verse, in prose, and in alexandrines. For from Antiquity to the present day, people have staged the events that marked their own or all of mankind’s existence, and performed them in front of spectators. From the authors of the classical Greek tragedies to contemporary playwrights; from Sarah Bernhardt to Francis Huster, from La Comédie française to La Michodière, from avant-garde plays to the classical repertory, the flame of Christophe Barbier’s passion sets the stage – and each and every page of this stunning Lover’s Dictionary – on fire.

A consummate media man (radio, TV, press), Christophe Barbier is a political journalist. He collaborated with Le Point (from 1990) and Europe 1 (1995), and was named as head of the political service of L’Express in 1996, then Assistant Managing Editor in 2001. He is now the Managing Editor.

Jack Lang

Shh… the bell is ringing, the show is about to begin!




A Philosophy Lover’s DictionaryLuc Ferry

A l o v i n g i n v e n t o r y o f p h i l o s o p h y, b y f o r m e r M i n i s t e r o f E d u c at i o n L u c

F e r r y.

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During a conference at the Sorbonne on 9 April 2005 whose theme was, “What is philosophy?”, Luc Ferry defined it as a soteriology, i.e. a “doctrine of salvation.” By doctrine of salvation, he means a set of answers to the great existential questions: what is the meaning of life, since we are all mortal? How can you “save yourself ”, not in the sense of escaping death, since it is inevitable, but by living in a satisfying way for the time that is given to us? And in that case, how do we define that “satisfying way” and how can we reach it? In that sense, philosophy is in competition, or even contradiction, with the major religions, because it invites us to find our own answers to those existential questions rather than accepting the argument that religion’s teachings are authoritative.

According to Luc Ferry, philosophy cannot begin to become full and complete until it distances itself from God. The more atheistic a philosophy is, the better it fits the definition of philosophy. One that has voluntarily amputated a particular school of thought. So

Philosopher and former Minister of Education, Luc ferry has written numerous best-selling books such as Apprendre à vivre (Learning to Live), Plon, 2006; La sagesse des mythes (The Wisdom of Myths), Plon, 2008, La révolution de l’amour, (The Love Revolution) Plon, 2010; L’innovation destructrice (Destructive Innovation, Plon, 2014).

© DR

philosophy is not only a critical reflection, because science, for example, also demands that type of reflection; nor is philosophy just an appealing form of rhetoric: it is actually a search for wisdom.




A JESUS Lover’s DictionaryT h e a u t h o r t e l l s u s t h e s t o r y o f J e s u s ’ s l i f e ,

f r o m t h e s ta n d p o i n t o f b o t h a h i s t o r i a n a n d a b e l i e v e r .

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«In the spirit of the ‘Lover’s Dictionaries’ collection, I set off to meet Jesus of Nazareth. Being a ‘Jesus lover’ is a very private feeling that engages your entire life and mobilises your deepest emotions, where the word ‘love’ takes on its fullest dimensions it seems to me, because it can be measured by the yardstick of transcendence. It goes beyond love for a landscape, music or a long-dead hero. For the Christian that I am, Jesus is a living person: God made flesh and come to bring Salvation to the world. As a historian, discussing him means describing the singular, first-century Jewish rabbi who roamed the routes of Galilee with his disciples, calling for love for one’s neighbours and announcing the coming of the Kingdom. But as a believer, it also means describing the resurrected Christ, who can only truly be encountered within the dimension of Faith. Believing means being connected, at the very heart of one’s being, to a mysterious spring of clear, bubbling water. It is an opportunity, a grace. » Jean-Christian Petitfils

A historian, and a writer who has received many literary prizes, Jean-christian Petitfils is the author of over thirty books, including biographies of Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI (Perrin). His biography of Jesus (Fayard) was a best-seller.

Jean-Christian Petitfilslover’s dictionnaries



BACKLISTWhat is a «Lover’s Dictionnary» ? It is simply a passionate encounter of a writer and his favorite subject.

Necessary, sometimes astonishing, this encounter will help the reader to know more and more delectable facts and stories behind the chosen subject.

As Cocteau used to say, « a literary masterpiece is nothing more than a dictionnary in disorder». By reading all of these authors, you will realize that they have succeeded in making the word «masterpiece» rhyme with «alphabeti-cal order».




BACKLISTA Proust Lover’s Dictionary

A Cat lover’s dictionnary

A wine Lover’s Dictionary

A Versailles Lover’s Dictionary

by Jean-Paul & Raphael Enthoven

by Frédéric Vitoux

by bernard pivot

by franck ferrand

+31,000 copies sold !In this Lover’s Dictionnary, the two authors split the task, Raphaël Enthoven minutely and textually exploring La Recherche, and Jean-Paul Enthoven the variations on Proust himself.

Winner of the 2014 Femina Prize(best essay)

One constant remains thoughout this book: a communicative joy, and a pleasure in sharing with others Bernard Pivot’s love for wine. Wine is a pretext for the author to regale us with his highly entertaining personal anecdotes and to infect us with his boisterous taste for life. This Wine Lover’s Dictonnary is also for those who love life. And Pivot does.

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This Cat Lover’s Dictionary meanders about in the enchanting and enchanted world of the feline. It is funny and fascinating, knowledgeable and full of a thousand anecdotes. Leaf through this book at leisure, stop here and there to discover this surprise and that one, a portrait, then an anecdote. Frédéric Vitoux invites our complicity in this unplanned and utterly civilized promenade, for man is only really a civilized being when he has accepted the cat at his side.


Of all the world’s palaces, Versailles is probably the one that has inspired the greatest number of conventional–and often inaccurate–works. With his personal and didactic approach, Franck Ferrand’s subjective interpretation gives the reader a fresh new look, a rediscovery of this splendid treasure of the past. The château, its décor, its vast gardens, the domain all appear here in an entirely new light, recapturing their innate exuberance and revealing the “court spirit” that was born here long ago.



- in China -

- in Italy, Serbia, Turkey -

- in 10 countries - Greece, Portugal, Romania, Serbia,

Turkey, Taiwan, Brazil, Canada, China &

Spain.



Notes



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