Not content to tell us the story of his riveting book, The French War Against America, which details Paris's machinations to undermine American independence during and after the Revolution, Harlow Giles Unger held us spellbound with an in depth discussion of the psychological and intellectual history of France from its earliest days as a nation. The French of the eras of Clovis and Charlemagne became imbued with the idea that they were the divinely ordained first nation not only of Europe but of the world. By the time they achieved domination of Europe under Louis XIV, the "Sun King," they had commandeered popes, taken over the Catholic Church and brooked no interference with their assumption of global power. That is why the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, came as such a shock to them. The French were defeated everywhere, in Europe, Africa, India and North America, where they were stripped of their dominion over two thirds of the continent. This loss inspired their aid to the infant United States during the Revolution. But they never had the slightest intention of letting the Americans become yet another power (along with England) to rival French pretensions. Only hard-nosed American insistence on retaining control of the war both on the battlefield and on the diplomatic front frustrated them. When Revolutionary France emerged, the same subvert America policies saw the installment of Edmond Genet as French ambassador. He was soon playing proconsul, denouncing President Washington and inspiring riots in major cities, until even that lover of all things French, Thomas Jefferson, turned against him. From there Harlow took us swiftly through the next century and a half, explaining the compulsive French hatred of America so visible today as rooted in this primary rage at France's loss of world leadership. It hardly needs to be added that the applause was vigorous and so were sales of The French War Against America.