Les lieux de mémoire

the long version

"Les Lieux de memoire is perhaps one of the most profound historical documents on the history and culture of the French nation. Assembled by Pierre Nora during the Mitterand years, this multivolume series has been hailed as a magnificent achievement ... Written during a time when French national identity was undergoing a pivotal change and the nation was struggling to define itself, this unprecedented series consists of essays by prominent historians and cultural commentators which take, as their points of departure, Lieux de memoire, a site of memory used to order, concentrate, and secure notions of France's past. The first volume, La Republique, brings together works addressing the omnipresent role of the state in French life. As in the other volumes, Les Lieux de memoire serve as entries into the French past, whether they are actual sites, political traditions, rituals, or even national pastimes and textbooks."--Google Books.