Century of Bestsellers in France (1890-1990)

This study, based on contemporary comments and published details of print runs and booksellers' returns, shows, through a chronological survey which takes into account the development and influence of rival media such as the cinema and television, how many best-selling works of fiction and non-fiction, of home or foreign origin, have responded to the social and intellectual needs of a particular time. Some have survived. Many others gather dust on the shelves as witnesses to a bygone age.