The French...

-Smoke, drink and eat more fat than anyone in the world, yet live longer and have fewer heart problems than Americans

-Work 35-hour weeks, and take seven weeks of paid holidays per year, but are still the world's fourth-biggest economic power

So what makes the French so different?

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong is a journey into the French heart, mind and soul. Decrypting French ideas about land, privacy and language, Nadeau and Barlow weave together the threads of French society--from centralization and the Napoleonic Code to elite education and even street protests--giving us, for the first time, a complete picture of the French.

''[A] readable and insightful piece of work.'' --Montreal Mirror

''In an era of irrational reactions to all things French, here is an eminently rational answer to the question, 'Why are the French like that?''' --Library Journal

''A must-read.'' --Edmonton Journal