Jules Michelet, L’oiseaux, Hachette, Paris, 1857

Jules Michelet (1798-1874) is one of the greatest historians of the 18th century.

He saw controversy in his lifetime due to certain political and anti-clerical religious positions and part of his work is still controversial today as the instigator of a form of ‘national novel’. Alongside his historical work, Jules Michelet wrote several volumes on nature, including this one, with naturalistic observations, poetry and socio-political considerations.