French Historians Roadshow

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We are honored to partner with the Consulat Général de France à Boston to present a talk about the social perspective of the Great War. Historians Dr. Emmanuelle Cronier and Clémentine Vidal-Naquet will discuss World War I from an insider’s perspective, describing the social and cultural aspects of the war, its impact on families, and its after-effects.

About the Event

This panel discussion will be moderated by award-winning professor and historian Dr. William Keylor of Boston University, who has received critical acclaim for his books, A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945 and The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900. Dr. Keylor was elected to the International Institute for Strategic Studies and has been named Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Mérite by the French government.

About the Panelists

Dr. Emmanuelle Cronier is a lecturer in contemporary history at the University of Picardie - Jules Verne. In her doctoral research entitled, “Leave and soldiers on leave in Paris during the First World War,” she adopted a holistic approach to First World War societies, addressing issues such as combatants' morale, social and family bonds, identities and wartime moral hierarchies, and the transgressive behaviors of the soldiers.

Clémentine Vidal-Naquet is the author of Couples in the Great War: The Tragic and the Ordinary Conjugal Bond. Her book studies the fragile bonds created between spouses during the Great War and its repercussions on approximately five million married and unmarried couples in France. She analyzes an experience eminently intimate but widely shared at the collective level.

Upcoming Events

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In-person, Indoor Event in English

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Join us at the French Library for a conversation on The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola. We invite you to read the book in its entirety and meet us on April 21st, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.