An authoritative guide not only to ten centuries of literature produced in the territory now called France, but also to the rich literary output of other French-speaking countries around the world. Entries cover individual authors and works from the troubadours to Césaire, and from La Princesse de Clèves to La Vie mode d'emploi. Substantial essay-entries reflect the latest scholarship on topics such as chivalry, Occupation and Resistance in wartime France, scholasticism, the sciences, literary movements and genres, as well as opera, cinema, and press.