Cover of Peeps at Many Lands: France by John Finnemore
Peeps at Many Lands Series

Peeps at Many Lands: France

by John Finnemore

2h 41m
Duration
1909
Published
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About This Audiobook

Peeps at Many Lands: France, is a short illustrated children’s geography and travel book in the popular Peeps at Many Lands series. Aimed at young readers, it offers engaging descriptive “peeps” into early-20th-century France rather than a systematic history or guidebook. It opens by noting the close proximity of England and France across the Channel (called La Manche by the French), then portrays the country as “La belle France”—a land of sunny plains, orchards, vineyards, rivers, and charming villages. Chapters cover Normandy, Brittany (including the religious-and-festive Pardon of St. Anne), the dominant role of Paris and life along the Seine, everyday French home life, boys, peasants, and young conscripts, the Loire valley and its châteaux, the rugged Camisard country of the Cévennes, the vineyards of central France, the sandy Landes, the olive-growing south, towns along the Rhône, Menton, and rock villages.

The book mixes vivid landscape and city descriptions with sketches of customs, daily routines, and light historical notes, all written in an accessible, affectionate style suited to juvenile readers of the period. Illustrated with twelve full-page color plates, plus a sketch-map, it presents France as a beautiful, varied neighbor whose people, regions, and traditions reward a closer look. Like other volumes in the series, it prioritizes lively impressions over exhaustive detail, giving English-speaking children of its day an inviting introduction to French geography, character, and way of life.

Meet the Author
John FinnemoreBritish schoolmaster & prolific children's author · 1863–1915

John Finnemore was a British schoolteacher and prolific author of children's and educational literature. Born in Birmingham, England, to a family connected to the local pen trade, he began teaching at a young age and married fellow teacher Eliza Emily Pearson (later Emily Pearson Finnemore), who wrote religious works. The couple, who had no children, lived in Suffolk before settling in Wales, where Finnemore served as headmaster of Tan-y-garreg Elementary School in Blaenpennal, Cardiganshire, and later resided near Aberystwyth. He contributed stories to boys' magazines like The Boy's Own Paper and became a successful writer in the early 1900s, publishing dozens of books that blended adventure, moral lessons, and imperial themes.

Finnemore is best remembered for his Teddy Lester school stories (set at fictional Slapton School, emphasizing sports, camaraderie, and character) and early Boy Scout fiction such as The Wolf Patrol (1908), which promoted Baden-Powell's ideals of duty and outdoor skills. He also wrote popular geography books in the Peeps at Many Lands series (on countries like Japan, India, and England), historical tales, and social studies texts for young readers, often illustrated and published by A. & C. Black and others. His works reflected Edwardian values of patriotism and self-reliance. Finnemore died of heart failure on December 17, 1915 in Llanfarian, Wales, at age 52, leaving a legacy of engaging educational fiction that influenced generations of British schoolchildren.

In This Volume
  1. Paideia Introduction2:37
  2. Our Neighbours4:34
  3. In Normandy6:10
  4. Some Norman Towns6:59
  5. In Brittany9:15
  6. The "Pardon" of St. Anne11:59
  7. Paris6:23
  8. Paris along the Seine6:48
  9. At Home in France7:49
  10. The French Boy8:12
  11. The French Peasant5:31
  12. The Young Conscript5:09
  13. Along the Loire10:35
  14. Along the Loire (continued)9:55
  15. Along the Loire (continued)10:52
  16. The Country of the Camisards8:05
  17. Among the Vineyards9:00
  18. The Landes3:19
  19. In the South7:54
  20. The Land of Olives9:06
  21. Some Towns on the Rhone11:10

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