HISTORY

The Road from the Past:  Traveling through History in France by Ina Caro (1994)
Only a small portion of this book is devoted to Provence, but, if you like Roman ruins, this book provides a very readable history of the Roman presence via the architecture they left behind throughout Provence.

Old Provence by Theodore Andrea Cook (2001)
This book, first published in 1905, was based on the author’s tour through the south of France, taking in the history and architectural remains of its Greek and Roman predecessors as well as those from the Middle Ages.  Densely packed with information, but interesting and very informative.

Lourmarin in the Eighteenth Century:  A Study of a French Village by Thomas F.  Sheppard (1971)
We recently found a copy of this out-of-print book detailing the history (sometimes, painfully, it appears) of our favorite village.  We have not read this book yet, but it looks like a treasure-trove of information.

The Memoirs of Frédéric Mistral translated by George Wickes (1994)
Mistral, a foremost Provençal poet who led the vanguard to revive the Provençal language for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, was a colorful character. Here, he recorded his musings of his early life in Provence.  Originally translated into English in 1907, it fell out of print and was translated again in 1994.  We have not yet read this book, but it was been recommended by several aficionados of Provençal history.

The Roman Remains of Southern France by James Bromwich (1996)
I have not read this book, but it looks detailed and comprehensive.

Village in the Vaucluse by Lawrence Wylie (1976)
In this book, a Harvard sociologist who has made a career of studying French villages describes life in the small village of Roussillon in the 1950s.  The customs and habits of this rather insulated community as well as the ingenuity and practicality of its people against the backdrop of a rapidly changing France make for a very interesting read.