About this book
Alsace, Lorraine et France rhénane Exposé des droits historiques de la France sur toute la rive gauche du Rhin by Stéphen Coubé is a stirring historical argument that traces France’s claims to the left bank of the Rhine through centuries of law, culture and conflict. Coubé blends legal reasoning, military and economic interests, and appeals to popular sentiment to map how regions from Celtic and Gallo‑Roman eras, through Frankish rule, the Westphalian settlements, Napoleonic decrees and the upheavals of 1795–1815, became central to French irredentist discourse.
This history audiobook examines key episodes—the campaigns of Turenne and Richelieu, petitions and annexations, the trauma of 1870–1914 and the eventual reintegration of Alsace‑Lorraine—while interrogating concepts of national right, identity and memory. Drawing on diplomatic, legal and regional sources, Coubé frames the Rhine not only as a frontier but as a symbol in the struggle between France and Germany.
Ideal for listeners of European history, Franco‑German relations, and political nationalism, this engaging, scholarly narrative clarifies the origins of modern border disputes and why Alsace and Lorraine have long been at the heart of French historical imagination.
