Noted travel writer Matthew Stevenson sets out by train and bicycle from his home in Geneva, Switzerland, and rides from the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian War around Sedan to Paris, Tours, and Biarritz. The book is an easy blend of travel, diplomatic history, literature, and French politics. Along the way Stevenson sees the trenches around Verdun, the siege lines at Sedan, the cities of Paris and Orleans, and the haunts of Biarrtiz, which so enticed German Chancellor Bismarck. Stevenson writes with empathy and humour, making him the ideal companion for this little tour of France.